People: Minh N. Vu, Partner
Biography
Ms. Vu is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and the leader of the firm’s ADA Title III Specialty Practice Team. Ms. Vu’s national practice focuses exclusively on the legal obligations of places of public accommodation, recipients of federal assistance, government contractors, and housing providers to individuals with disabilities under Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and various state non-discrimination statutes. Ms. Vu is a recognized thought leader on ADA Title III issues who is known for her practical and business-friendly approach to litigation as well as compliance under this law. In 2012, Ms. Vu authored the ADA Guide for Lodging Owners and Operators, the first book of its kind published by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and also testified before Congress on behalf of the AH&LA on new ADA requirements for lifts at pools and spas. Ms. Vu also is the editor of and a primary contributor to Seyfarth’s ADA Title III News & Insights Blog which has been quoted in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Economist.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Vu spent nearly a decade as a litigator at one of the world’s top law firms where she handled a variety of cases at all levels of the federal judicial system and before state and federal agencies. In 2001, Ms. Vu joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) where she served as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. In that position, Ms. Vu oversaw the enforcement of the ADA, the FHA, the Rehabilitation Act, as well as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She also represented the DOJ at the U.S. Access Board, the federal agency charged with creating accessibility guidelines for public accommodations, commercial facilities, and federal agencies. She returned to private practice in 2004, where she has focused her practice on Title III of the ADA and related laws.
Litigation Defense. Ms. Vu has handled a wide array of individual plaintiff and class action disability discrimination matters involving public accommodations throughout the United States, including in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Ms. Vu has successfully defended public accommodations (e.g. hotels, shopping centers, retailers, restaurants, banks, casinos, and health care facilities) in a broad range of accessibility lawsuits under Title III of the ADA and similar state laws involving websites, mobile apps, architectural barriers, point of sale devices, ATMs, service animals, power mobility devices, and effective communication.
Department of Justice and Other Investigations. Ms. Vu specializes in the representation of businesses, public entities, and non-profits under investigation by the DOJ and state enforcement agencies for alleged violations of Titles II and III of the ADA and FHA. She has successfully negotiated numerous settlements and consent decrees with the DOJ and private plaintiffs on behalf of hotels, health care providers, restaurants, retailers, educational institutions, and financial services companies concerning virtually every conceivable subject matter, including architectural barriers, effective communication (e.g. sign language interpreters, documents in alternate formats, accessible websites and mobile apps), ATMs, and service animals.
Advice, Counseling, Policy Development, and Training. Ms. Vu’s practice includes advising clients on the requirements of the ADA and other disability laws and creating compliance policies and training programs. The country's top retailers, banks, hospitality companies, car rental companies, casinos, and equipment manufacturers have retained Ms. Vu to help them create national enterprise-wide ADA compliance policies, operational procedures, customized facilities checklists, and training materials for thousands of employees. She guides clients on cutting edge disability issues such as the applicability of Title III of the ADA to websites and mobile applications, the new 2010 ADA Standards for accessible facilities, pool and spa lifts, point of sale devices, medical equipment, self-service equipment, hotel reservations processes, event ticketing policies, and ATMs. Manufacturers of customer-facing self-service equipment have also retained Ms. Vu to opine on whether the design of their machines are accessible to individuals with various types of disabilities.
Ms. Vu also advises real estate developers, builders, and architects on the accessible design and construction requirements of the FHA for multifamily dwellings, and defends lawsuits and government investigations based on such requirements.
Federal Rulemaking Proceedings. Ms. Vu has served as ADA counsel to the American Hotel & Lodging Association for more than a decade and she has represented the interests of the lodging industry in every major rulemaking under Title III of the ADA, including the 2010 revisions to the ADA Title III regulations as well as the pending rulemakings for furniture, equipment, and accessible websites. Ms. Vu also represented one of the country’s largest movie theatre companies in the 2014 DOJ rulemaking concerning the closed captioning of movies.
Ms. Vu is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and the leader of the firm’s ADA Title III Specialty Practice Team. Ms. Vu’s national practice focuses exclusively on the legal obligations of places of public accommodation, recipients of federal assistance, government contractors, and housing providers to individuals with disabilities under Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and various state non-discrimination statutes. Ms. Vu is a recognized thought leader on ADA Title III issues who is known for her practical and business-friendly approach to litigation as well as compliance under this law. In 2012, Ms. Vu authored the ADA Guide for Lodging Owners and Operators, the first book of its kind published by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and also testified before Congress on behalf of the AH&LA on new ADA requirements for lifts at pools and spas. Ms. Vu also is the editor of and a primary contributor to Seyfarth’s ADA Title III News & Insights Blog which has been quoted in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Economist.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Vu spent nearly a decade as a litigator at one of the world’s top law firms where she handled a variety of cases at all levels of the federal judicial system and before state and federal agencies. In 2001, Ms. Vu joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) where she served as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. In that position, Ms. Vu oversaw the enforcement of the ADA, the FHA, the Rehabilitation Act, as well as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She also represented the DOJ at the U.S. Access Board, the federal agency charged with creating accessibility guidelines for public accommodations, commercial facilities, and federal agencies. She returned to private practice in 2004, where she has focused her practice on Title III of the ADA and related laws.
Litigation Defense. Ms. Vu has handled a wide array of individual plaintiff and class action disability discrimination matters involving public accommodations throughout the United States, including in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Ms. Vu has successfully defended public accommodations (e.g. hotels, shopping centers, retailers, restaurants, banks, casinos, and health care facilities) in a broad range of accessibility lawsuits under Title III of the ADA and similar state laws involving websites, mobile apps, architectural barriers, point of sale devices, ATMs, service animals, power mobility devices, and effective communication.
Department of Justice and Other Investigations. Ms. Vu specializes in the representation of businesses, public entities, and non-profits under investigation by the DOJ and state enforcement agencies for alleged violations of Titles II and III of the ADA and FHA. She has successfully negotiated numerous settlements and consent decrees with the DOJ and private plaintiffs on behalf of hotels, health care providers, restaurants, retailers, educational institutions, and financial services companies concerning virtually every conceivable subject matter, including architectural barriers, effective communication (e.g. sign language interpreters, documents in alternate formats, accessible websites and mobile apps), ATMs, and service animals.
Advice, Counseling, Policy Development, and Training. Ms. Vu’s practice includes advising clients on the requirements of the ADA and other disability laws and creating compliance policies and training programs. The country's top retailers, banks, hospitality companies, car rental companies, casinos, and equipment manufacturers have retained Ms. Vu to help them create national enterprise-wide ADA compliance policies, operational procedures, customized facilities checklists, and training materials for thousands of employees. She guides clients on cutting edge disability issues such as the applicability of Title III of the ADA to websites and mobile applications, the new 2010 ADA Standards for accessible facilities, pool and spa lifts, point of sale devices, medical equipment, self-service equipment, hotel reservations processes, event ticketing policies, and ATMs. Manufacturers of customer-facing self-service equipment have also retained Ms. Vu to opine on whether the design of their machines are accessible to individuals with various types of disabilities.
Ms. Vu also advises real estate developers, builders, and architects on the accessible design and construction requirements of the FHA for multifamily dwellings, and defends lawsuits and government investigations based on such requirements.
Federal Rulemaking Proceedings. Ms. Vu has served as ADA counsel to the American Hotel & Lodging Association for more than a decade and she has represented the interests of the lodging industry in every major rulemaking under Title III of the ADA, including the 2010 revisions to the ADA Title III regulations as well as the pending rulemakings for furniture, equipment, and accessible websites. Ms. Vu also represented one of the country’s largest movie theatre companies in the 2014 DOJ rulemaking concerning the closed captioning of movies.
Education
-
J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, with honors (1993)
- B.A., Columbia College (1989)
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
Courts
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
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