An Interview with Anat Maytal (’09)
Speaking with the ABA’s Business Law Today, Maytal discusses the challenges of practicing law as a person with a hearing disability.
Long ago, Anat Maytal (’09) had to learn how to advocate for herself and find her own voice. As a person who is hard of hearing, she has had to stand up for herself—at school, in her career, and in life. She is now an associate at Baker & Hostetler, specializing in complex commercial litigation as well as employment and bankruptcy law. She is currently president of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association, and was named in 2016 as a “Top 40 Young Lawyer On the Rise” by the American Bar Association, and as a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers. She graduated with honors from Boston University School of Law and Harvard University.
What inspired you to become a lawyer?
I decided to pursue this profession because I was passionate about the law, in terms of shaping it and interpreting it in ways that will help those in need. Growing up with my hearing disability, I have had to continually advocate for myself because many people in the hearing world assume negative stereotypes about the deaf community. They assume if you’re deaf, you can’t interact with others in the hearing world, and if you can’t interact, then clearly you can’t be mainstreamed in regular classrooms. If you’re not mainstreamed in a regular classroom then clearly, you can’t perform as well as students without the hearing disability. And if you can’t perform as well as hearing students, I mean it just goes on and on. The pervasiveness of these stereotypes and assumptions have shaped my experience growing up, being a student, and navigating from school and life. I’m not surprised that I picked a profession where I’m allowed to argue for a living, since my entire life I’ve had to be an advocate for myself.
Your practice area includes complex commercial litigation, contract dispute, class actions, and other litigation. How did you decide to focus on this area of law?
I actually fell into it. I initially thought I would become a criminal prosecutor for the DA’s office in New York City or where I went to law school in Boston. But I graduated in 2009 and it was possibly one of the worst years to graduate from law school. I met John Balestriere, who had a plaintiff-side class action law firm, and he encouraged me to come work for him. It was a great experience. His office is in New York City, and I was able to get hands-on experience. I went to court, mediations, and depositions, and became very familiar with court rules and procedures. I reviewed, prepared, and argued motions. I had a wide variety of cases, including a civil rights case involving police misconduct, a class action against a social networking company, partnership disputes, and then more complicated, financial services matters.
In 2010, my current firm had openings as they needed more attorneys to help with bankruptcy litigation matters. Now I’ve expanded that to include other fields of litigation and employment law as well.
What aids, services, and accommodations did you use in law school? What do you use when litigating and even talking with me?
I’m using a captioned phone right now. I hear you, but with the aid of the captioned phone which is not an exact transcription, but it helps fill in some of the blanks, so I’m not constantly struggling to hear every word you’re saying.
Just to give you a little background, I wear a hearing aid in my left ear. About three years ago, I had surgery for a cochlear implant in my right ear. I went to Boston University Law School and they were incredibly accommodating and understanding. They provided me with what’s called CART reporting, which is the acronym for Communications Access Realtime Translation, which is essentially real-time captioning or the equivalent of what a court reporter does more or less.
As lawyers know, in law school, there’s a lot of dialogue back and forth between the professors and students. It’s not a straight lecture. You have to be very alert and prepared to be called on. The transcription really helped me capture what anyone was saying, whether it was the professor or other students. The professors wore an FM microphone system, which connected directly to my hearing aids, so it provided some amplification. For some classes, I had to borrow notes from my classmates to fill in the blanks.