Law Student Profile
Elizabeth Kolbe, Stanford Law School By Teresa Cajot At the age of 14, Elizabeth Kolbe was involved in a car accident that left her with a severe spinal injury. However, instead of allowing her injuries to hold her back she used her accident as a launching point and now advocates for others with disabilities.
Today, the prospective 2013 graduate of Stanford Law serves as the President of the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities (NALSWD), an alliance that provides support and networking opportunities to law students and legal professionals with disabilities. The coalition uses its nationwide reach to provide students with career advancement assistance and information on professional opportunities. Kolbe is also involved with the Youth and Education Law Project (YELP) of Stanford Law School’s Mills Legal Clinic. Earlier this year, she worked with another YELP student to file a “Williams” complaint for a second grader who relies on a power wheelchair, a ventilator, and a feeding tube. Kolbe met with school representatives to discuss the needs of this child, addressing issues including exposure to sewage in the bathroom, mold in the classroom, and feces from a student in a neighboring classroom. Beyond these immediate health concerns, Kolbe also requested an assessment for occupational and physical therapy, as well an assistive technology assessment on behalf on the student’s family. The child’s speech and language and adaptive physical education services were also adjusted as a result of Kolbe’s work. Throughout college Kolbe studied healthcare policy with a focus on methods of providing healthcare coverage for more people. While at Harvard, she worked for Senator John Kerry as a health intern and developed her own major in health
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care policy. She ultimately graduated with honors and joined the school as a researcher for the Department of Health Care Financing. Kolbe’s successes, however, are not limited to academics. Following her accident, she was encouraged to swim as a form of physical therapy and despite the fact that she has lost the use of her legs and has limited use of her hands she has since been involved with a club team, her high school swim team, and the Harvard team. She was nominated to the US Paralympic Team in 2004 but passed on the opportunity because it coincided with her first year of college at Harvard. She set American records at Blodgett Pool in the 50-meter butterfly, the 100-meter backstroke, the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle, and the 200-meter freestyle. In 2007 Kolbe won four medals at the Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and following her graduation she took a year off to participate in the 2008 US Paralympic Games in Beijing. Since entering Stanford Law School in 2009, Kolbe has served as the Co-President of the Stanford Law Association and the Associate Editor of the Stanford Law and Policy Review. She is involved in the law school’s Social Security and Disability Pro Bono Project and spent last summer at Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville PC and Sidley Austin.
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