Miami Beach lawyer works tirelessly to eliminate barriers.

From where Edward Resnick sits in his wheelchair, the world can be pretty insensitive to the plight of the disabled and downright ignorant of the law.

During Christmas of 1954, four years after graduating from the University of Florida law school as he tells it, "I came down with polio at the age of 28"

In his hometown of Miami Reach, this banking and reel estate lawyer routinely was thrown out of movie theaters with his child and her friends, because his wheelchair blocked the aisle.

To enjoy the exciting renaissance of South Beach's dilapidated old hotels into glitzy night spots, he would have to depend on the heft of four waiters to carry him up the steps so he could dine in an Ocean Drive restaurant with his wife.

When the Lincoln Mall went through its extensive rejuvenation as chair of the Mayor's Ad Hoc Barrier Free Environment Committee, he went to all the government's public meetings. He spoke on the importance of making sure access for the handicapped was included in renovation plans, only to watch one restaurant after another open with tables so close together he couldn't maneuver his way around or restrooms impossible for him to roll to.

Finally, in 1998, he grew impatient trying to work through slow or unresponsive government and put his legal expertise to use bringing lawsuits that force businesses and corporations to abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act that passed in 1990 and went into effect in January 1992.

With Phyllis Resnick, his wife of 50 years, at his side, together they run a "mom and pop" not-for-profit corporation called Access Now, Inc., from their Miami Beach apartment.

Five days a week, they serve as unpaid volunteers, providing oversight to nine law firms who agree to take on class-action lawsuits on a contingency basis.

"This will pave our way to heaven, if there is one," Edward Resnick says of his highly personal pro bono work.

"It's an overwhelming satisfaction to go down the street and see places you've managed, through one way or another, to make compliant, and know that anyone who wants to go there and is disabled will find that it finally complies with the ADA."

Phyllis Resnick, who is not a lawyer, says she loves the law, adding, "We've settled every case we've filed. We've never had to go to trial."

"The lawyers do a very good job," said Edward Resnick, a member of the Bar's Public Interest...