Suicide has been reported as the second leading cause of death among young adults. For collegiate athletes specifically, suicide rates doubled between 2002 and 2022. Despite growing mental health concerns, most Division I athletic departments still lack adequate mechanisms to address the needs of student-athletes. Although the NCAA has taken steps to prioritize student-athlete well-being, gaps remain between existing initiatives and reported needs.

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In 1789, Congress enacted the All Writs Act (AWA), codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1651, granting federal courts the authority to issue "all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions." The statute was designed as a tool for courts to issue orders not otherwise provided for by existing law. Today, the AWA has become a contested instrument of the federal government, used for compelling technology companies to assist in criminal investigations. A gap-filling statute from the founding era has become the government's go-to tool for cracking open encrypted smartphones.

In 2024, the aggregate sum of nuclear verdicts—those exceeding $10 million—reached an astonishing total of $31.3 billion. These verdicts are continuing to rise not just in number, but in size and scope. The same year recorded a record-high forty-nine thermonuclear verdicts—those exceeding $100 million—nearly double the twenty-three recorded the year before. Nuclear verdicts are increasing in prevalence across the country, leading to defense attorneys scrambling for solutions to stem the bleeding. On the flip side, plaintiff attorneys have increased both their advertisement presence and demand for jury trials, as social inflation continues to reward lengthy litigation.

People who “require visual aids…face communication barriers that prevent them from fully participating in the judicial process.” For “lawyers with disabilities, challenges can hinder their ability to fully participate and thrive in the field.” In fact, people with disabilities and blindness experience significantly higher rates of unemployment than able-bodied people, 12.5% compared to 5.9%.” Further, in a study evaluating “transportation-related stress” among people with visual impairments, it was found that people with visual impairments experience “higher stress…[when] navigating…and walking in unfamiliar places.” Psychological stress occurs when “people perceive environmental demands as beyond their resources and thus threatening or harmful.” To ease these anxieties, it is important for trial attorneys to know the accommodations available to them in courtrooms, and equally as important for all courtrooms to be consistent in their accommodations.