For Donna Drumm's full resume please click here.

ADAAA Certified Advocate.

Donna Drumm helps individuals with visible and invisible disabilities navigate requests for reasonable accommodations in courts, colleges, workplaces and community settings. She also consults with attorneys and other professionals whose clients encounter disability-related barriers.

• Trained ADA advocate

• Assistant Professor and Program Director of Legal Studies at Mercy University

• Experience explaining complex legal and institutional procedures in accessible language

• Consultation and unbundled-service options

  
  

  Donna’s academic position at Mercy University is separate from her work through DrummAdvocacy. Mercy University is not affiliated with or responsible for DrummAdvocacy’s services.

About Donna Drumm

Donna Drumm, Esq.

New York Attorney, ADA Advocate and Legal Educator

Donna Drumm helps people with visible and invisible disabilities request reasonable accommodations and navigate complex systems. Through DrummAdvocacy, she assists individuals, families, attorneys and healthcare professionals with disability accommodation matters involving courts, colleges, workplaces, assisted living communities, housing and other public settings.

Her work focuses on helping people understand their rights, identify disability-related barriers and communicate effective requests for reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

How Donna’s Disability Advocacy Journey Began

Donna’s journey as a disability rights advocate began when she met a highly capable woman living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who could not find anyone to represent her. The woman was being held responsible in a lawsuit seeking more than one million dollars for conduct attributed to her former husband.

As the case moved through an administrative commission and Superior Court, the repeated starts, stops and procedural demands intensified the challenges caused by her PTSD. After years of advocacy, she prevailed and restored her good name.

She then transformed that difficult experience into lasting change by helping create a bill that became law, protecting other spouses in her state from facing similar circumstances.

Her experience demonstrates a principle that continues to guide Donna’s work:

With informed advocacy, persistence and appropriate disability accommodations, meaningful change is possible.

Training in ADA Accommodations

Donna was trained by the late Dr. Karin Huffer, a nationally recognized ADA educator, author and advocate. Dr. Huffer’s work demonstrated how the Americans with Disabilities Act can be used to request accommodations that provide people with disabilities meaningful access to courts and other complex institutions.

This training shaped Donna’s understanding of how conditions such as PTSD, anxiety disorders, cognitive disabilities, neurological conditions and other invisible disabilities can affect a person’s ability to participate effectively in legal and administrative proceedings.

Donna helps clients identify functional barriers, understand possible accommodations, organize appropriate supporting information and communicate accommodation requests to the relevant institution. Medical diagnoses and treatment remain the responsibility of qualified healthcare professionals.

Advocacy for People with Visible and Invisible Disabilities

Donna has always been drawn to the courtroom. She also understands that, for many people, entering a courtroom can feel overwhelming and unfamiliar—much like entering a hospital without understanding its procedures or language.

The same is true of colleges, workplaces, assisted living facilities, housing communities and government agencies. Each has its own rules, terminology and decision-making processes. People are often expected to navigate these systems without fully understanding how they work.

For individuals with visible or invisible disabilities, the challenge extends beyond managing the disability itself. They may also have to explain their limitations, obtain supporting documentation and repeatedly advocate for the reasonable accommodations they need.

The accommodation process can create additional stress, anxiety and trauma. What should provide a bridge to equal access can become another barrier.

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides an important framework for addressing these barriers. It protects eligible individuals with visible and invisible disabilities and supports their right to request reasonable accommodations that allow them to participate with greater dignity, fairness and equal access.

Legal Education and Professional Experience

Donna Drumm, Esq. is a New York attorney, ADA advocate and legal educator who helps people with visible and invisible disabilities obtain reasonable accommodations in courts, colleges, workplaces, assisted living communities and other institutional settings.

Donna graduated from Marymount College and earned her Juris Doctor from Pace University School of Law, now the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. While attending law school, she served as an associate and later as a Managing Editor of the Pace Environmental Law Review.

Donna began her legal career working under the tutelage of nationally recognized trial attorney David Boies, Chairman of Boies Schiller & Flexner. She assisted Mr. Boies with his book, Courting Justice, and advanced to the position of associate at the firm. This experience strengthened her skills in litigation, legal research, writing and the clear communication of complex legal issues.

Donna later expanded her leadership role in the Westchester legal community through her work with the membership of the Westchester County Bar Association. As Continuing Legal Education Director and later Executive Director, she collaborated with attorneys, judges and other legal professionals to develop educational programs, strengthen professional relationships and support the legal community.

In 2012, Donna joined Mercy College, now Mercy University, as an adjunct professor. She taught undergraduate courses in Civil Litigation and Law Practice Management within the Legal Studies Program at the University’s Dobbs Ferry, Bronx and Manhattan campuses. Her teaching responsibilities later expanded to include graduate courses in Health Services Management and Public Administration, focusing on legal issues in healthcare and public-service settings.

In September 2019, Donna was appointed Assistant Professor and Program Director of Legal Studies at Mercy University. As a full-time legal educator, she teaches students how to understand legal rights, conduct legal research, prepare legal documents and advocate effectively within complex legal and administrative systems. Her ability to explain complicated legal concepts in accessible language is central to both her teaching and disability advocacy work.

Today, Donna combines her legal experience, professional leadership, ADA training and academic background to provide disability accommodation advocacy and consulting. Through DrummAdvocacy, she assists individuals, families, attorneys and healthcare professionals with courtroom accommodations, PTSD and invisible-disability accommodations, college accessibility, workplace reasonable-accommodation requests and disability advocacy for older adults.

Donna continues to accept selected disability and accommodation matters through DrummAdvocacy as her schedule permits.

How DrummAdvocacy Can Help

DrummAdvocacy may assist with matters involving:

• ADA accommodations for court appearances and legal proceedings

• Courtroom accommodations for PTSD and invisible disabilities

• College disability accommodations

• Workplace reasonable-accommodation requests

• Disability advocacy in assisted living and community settings

• Advocacy for older adults and family members

• Consultation with attorneys representing clients with disabilities

• Communication among clients, attorneys and healthcare professionals

• Preparation and organization of disability accommodation requests

Every situation is different. An initial consultation allows Donna to learn about the disability-related barrier, the setting involved and any approaching hearing, meeting or deadline.

Request a Confidential Consultation

If you or someone you support is encountering disability-related barriers in a court, college, workplace, assisted living community or other institutional setting, contact DrummAdvocacy to discuss whether advocacy or legal assistance may be appropriate.

Request a Confidential Consultation

Integrity is Everything

I make promises seriously. During your representation, your communications will be responded to in a timely manner, you will be treated with respect and your case will be reviewed thoroughly. It's the only way I know how to do business.

Unbundled Services

My approach is different than a traditional lawyer’s. I step in when your invisible disability needs to be accommodated in order to create a level playing field within the court room environment. I will help you define your relevant disabilities and work within the legal system to protect your rights. I then step back and your regular lawyer continues your case.