Disability Rights and Health Law Attorney Receives Bar’s Highest Honor

Epstein Becker Green Member of the Firm Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, Jr. has been named the 2026 Lawyer of the Year by the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (BADC), the organization’s highest honor. Kennedy, a nationally recognized disability rights advocate and health law attorney, as well as a childhood bone cancer survivor and amputee, has dedicated his life and career to advancing disability rights, promoting independent living, and ensuring equal access and opportunity for people with disabilities. This award recognizes an individual whose professional achievements and civic contributions have made a significant impact on the legal profession and the public.

Kennedy has been a longtime advocate for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other landmark disability rights legislation, and has worked across the legal, public policy, and corporate sectors to advance inclusion and dismantle systemic barriers. The Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1990, remains the central federal civil rights statute protecting people with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations. Yet lawyers with disabilities remain rare in the profession.

“Ted has made a profound impact on disability law and policy, bringing national attention to the importance of disability rights and inclusion. Fewer than 1% of attorneys self-identify as having a disability. This striking statistic underscores the persistent barriers people with disabilities face in entering, participating in, and advancing within the legal profession,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, Past President of the BADC and recipient of the 2025 BADC Lawyer of the Year Award.

“This recognition acknowledges Ted’s decades of work to expand access to justice and job opportunities for people with disabilities,” said Mark Lutes, Chair, Board of Directors of Epstein Becker Green. “Ted has opened doors in the law and in many of the nation’s leading businesses for many, and those firms and businesses are stronger for their contributions.”

Kennedy’s work includes:

  • Serving as Past Chair and current Board Member of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), one of the nation’s leading civil rights and public policy organizations advancing equality and justice for people with disabilities
  • Co-chairing the Disability Index, a corporate social responsibility and accountability benchmarking tool focused on disability inclusion
  • Advancing the removal of barriers for law students, jurors, lawyers, and judges with disabilities.
  • Chairing the bipartisan Intellectual and Developmental Disability Caucus while serving in the Connecticut General Assembly.
  • Previously serving on the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities under President Ronald Reagan and on the Board of Connecticut’s Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.

“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from my colleagues in the legal profession,” said Kennedy. “I hope to use this honor to advance a justice system in which people with disabilities are valued equally and can participate fully at every level. I look forward to working with the BADC and other legal organizations to educate and advance people with disabilities within all aspects of the justice system.”

Founded at the historic National Hotel in 1871, the BADC is the first bar association established in the District of Columbia and among the oldest bar associations in the United States.  The Lawyer of the Year award will be presented at the BADC’s 155th Annual Awards Banquet and Gala on Saturday, December 5, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

About Epstein Becker Green

Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. Our attorneys advise clients at every stage of their business lifecycle, delivering practical, results-driven counsel that shapes strategy, accelerates growth, and safeguards what matters most. We serve organizations of every size, from emerging startups to Fortune 100 companies, across the health care, life sciences, financial services, retail, hospitality, and technology industries, with sound legal solutions they can depend on when it counts. www.ebglaw.com

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