IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: The ABA Responds to Hurricane Katrina

A Midyear activity report Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina courtesy of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: The ABA Responds to Hurricane Katrina

A Midyear activity report Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina courtesy of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Copyright 2006 © American Bar Association. All rights reserved. Produced by ABA Publishing Uncredited photographs courtesy of the ABA Young Lawyers Division Disaster Legal Services Committee.

ABA TASK FORCE ON HURRICANE KATRINA

Albert C. Harvey Memphis, TN

John P. Macy Waukesha, WI

Howard T. Wall III Franklin, TN

Allan B. Head Cary, NC

Karen J. Mathis Denver, CO

Stephen N. Zack Miami, FL

Ernest B. Abbott Washington, DC

Mark Heley Minneapolis, MN

Rani Newman Mathura Greenwich, CT

Hon. Jay Zainey New Orleans, LA

General Earl E. Anderson Vienna, VA

Benjamin H. Hill Tampa, FL

Sandra R. McCandless San Francisco, CA

Nancy Appleby Washington, DC

David S. Houghton Omaha, NE

Steven G. McKinney Birmingham, AL

J. Vincent Aprile II Louisville, KY

Gregory F. Jenner Washington, DC

William H. Neukom Seattle, WA

Dennis W. Archer Detroit, MI

Homer C. LaRue Columbia, MD

Richard Pena Austin, TX

Robert A. Clifford Chicago, IL

Hon. Madeleine M. Landrieu New Orleans, LA

L. Jonathan Ross Manchester, NH

C. Elisia Frazier Memphis, TN

Wayne Lee New Orleans, LA

Steven R. Smith San Diego, CA

Marc Gary Atlanta, GA

David Levitt Chicago, IL

Sheldon Steinbach Washington, DC

Vicky Goodman Media, PA

Myles Lynk Tempe, AZ

Allan Van Fleet Houston, TX

I

CHAIR

N. Lee Cooper Birmingham, AL I

MEMBERS

I

STAFF

Janet L. Jackson

Letter from the ABA President Dear Colleagues: As we watched Hurricane Katrina bear down on the Gulf Coast in the final days of August, none of us could have imagined the terrible destruction and loss of life that lay ahead. The people of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were devastated by this cataclysmic storm, but with the unwavering support of a compassionate nation, they will recover. The legal profession has a critically important role to play in helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild their lives, their economies, and their communities. Our services are needed to help victims deal with every conceivable legal need, from mortgage foreclosures and estate administration to insurance claims and reconstruction of buildings and important documents. We are also called upon to help courts, bar associations, legal aid organizations, and our fellow lawyers rebuild a functioning justice system. The American Bar Association and state and local bar associations nationwide sprang immediately to action even before the full scope of the disaster became clear. Even as the hurricane was still raging, while I was on an ABA trip abroad, I appointed the ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina to coordinate the Association’s response. Led by its distinguished chair, Past ABA President N. Lee Cooper of Alabama, the Task Force immediately went to work to provide immediate assistance to victims, and it continues to do so. America’s lawyers answered the call, volunteering by the thousands through the ABA’s Hurricane Katrina Website to staff legal assistance hotlines, travel to the region, and offer office space to displaced lawyers. The wonderful contributions of dozens of ABA entities are detailed in the attached report of the ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina. I commend and thank everyone who has given, and who continue to give, their time, resources and expertise to aid in the recovery process, and I urge lawyers and the organized bar to remain committed to these desperately needed efforts. I ask lawyers who have not yet participated in the relief effort to do so. Long after the initial shock of the hurricane subsided, the people of the Gulf Coast continue to need our help dealing with a wide range of legal problems. The ABA and America’s lawyers must, and we will, provide that help for as long as it takes to get our fellow Americans back on their feet. I ask that all lawyers continue to stay the course.

Michael S. Greco

Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Colleagues: The devastation that was Hurricane Katrina caught many off-guard. It moved slowly and at first glance seemed to spare the region of its most devastating blows. But then the levees broke in New Orleans and the gulf regions of Mississippi and Alabama saw the full fury of the storm. At the American Bar Association, President Michael S. Greco and I spoke and began to develop an ABA response the morning after Hurricane Katrina hit, and we were in almost continuous contact for days thereafter—even while President Greco was attending a meeting of Bar Association Presidents oversees—as the magnitude of the disaster became more evident. As has happened so many times in the past, I called on the staff of the ABA to help and their response was tremendous. Within two days after the Hurricane the ABA Katrina Website was up on the ABA homepage. It included links to information for victims of the hurricane, agencies accepting financial donations and, very importantly, registration for lawyers willing to volunteer services to those in need. The website was widely praised and was featured on the CNN homepage with a link to our site. The Hurricane Katrina Staff Working Group was immediately formed with staff representatives from throughout the Association. Fundraising and service projects sprung up throughout the staff. The extraordinary efforts of the ABA staff during this time of disaster demonstrated once again that we are blessed with the most professional, dedicated and talented staff of any association in the world. Associations are representatives of the professions, industries and members they serve. What the ABA response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated is that associations are also representatives of our communities. We reflect our communities, our people, our nation. As we responded to the human and natural devastation of Katrina, we were once again reminded that while we might have a mission to serve the legal profession, we must always be ready in times of crisis to help all who are in great need. We can all be very proud of the response of the American Bar Association to those in great need as a result of the horrific destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Robert A. Stein Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer

INTRODUCTION

A

ugust 29, 2005 changed the face of America’s Gulf Coast forever. The magnitude of the disaster spurred the American Bar Association and the legal profession to quick and decisive action. Within days of the storm ABA President Michael S. Greco asked me to chair the ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina. A broad cross-section of lawyers from many ABA entities coordinated the ABA efforts. The work of the Association in the wake of the storm has proven to be one of the most significant and important efforts of the organized bar. We can all be justly proud because our profession answered the call for help. Our profession is blessed and it is only right and proper that we share these blessings with those less fortu-

nate. To whom much is given, much is expected. We expect no less. The response of the ABA sections, divisions, forums, committees and staff has been overwhelming. From the Young Lawyers Division disaster legal services work with FEMA, to the tremendous financial support provided to the devastated region, to the comprehensive ABA Katrina website, we have moved swiftly and decisively. There is much to be proud of, but the unprecedented nature of this hurricane also has created an ongoing need for the profession to remain vigilant in assisting those who need our help. We have much yet to do. The justice system in Louisiana took a severe blow. Thousands of lawyers have been displaced,

their businesses lost along with their ability to assist others in need. Countless citizens are now without the basic necessities we take for granted such as housing, jobs and secure futures. This Midyear report details some of the many efforts of the Association over the past five months. I am proud of the bar and the profession and thank you for your hard work and commitment. I have every trust and confidence that our efforts will continue until our job is complete. N. Lee Cooper Chair, ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

9

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

Before. . . photograph of a lawyer’s home in Mississippi.

A

fter the levee breach on Monday, August 29, ABA President Michael S. Greco convened a conference call from Morocco, where he was attending a meeting of the International Bar Association, with leadership of several sections to discuss the ABA response. He then hurried back to the United States to take command of the Association’s efforts. By Thursday, President Greco established the ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina to coordinate and lead the Association’s work to assist in the relief effort. He called on former ABA President, N. Lee Cooper to lead this unprecedented effort for his skill, stature and knowledge of the affected areas. The ABA would rise to the challenge to provide legal assistance to the victims of the storm as well as

10

helping the 5,238 members of the Association whose lives and practices were also destroyed. The mission of the task force, which represents a broad base of ABA sections, bar associations, legal services and constituent groups is: To oversee and coordinate all of the assistance provided by ABA entities to victims of Hurricane Katrina; and I To coordinate with, and support, programs of assistance created by other national, state and local bar associations; and I To develop programs of assistance to attorneys, courts and students of all ages in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina; and I To identify and recommend necessary policy to address issues raised by devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I

One of the most significant early efforts of the Task Force was advocating the suspension of unlicensed practice rules by various states impacted by the Hurricane so that lawyers from other jurisdictions may volunteer to assist in the affected areas. To date, 20 states have acted on this request. Closely corresponding with this, they worked with the courts to establish a 90-day tolling of all deadlines. The following is a brief recap of ABA activities to date in the Gulf Coast. ABA HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER RELIEF WEBSITE Within two days of Hurricane Katrina ABA Executive Director, Robert Stein, convened a staff working group to coordinate efforts and develop the ABA website as a clearinghouse of information on disaster relief. The

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

After. . . photograph of a lawyer’s home in Mississippi.

goal was to put as much helpful information up on the website as quickly as possible. By Wednesday, August 31st the ABA Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Website was up and running with information about ABA Young Lawyers Division efforts, where to donate money, a notice about volunteer lawyer pro bono opportunities and a statement from President Greco. As soon as the YLD-FEMA state hotline numbers for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were made available they were posted to the site along with information for victims about accessing FEMA services. The next priority was to establish avenues for lawyers who wanted to volunteer legal services to the disaster victims. An interactive, web-

based registration form was developed and posted to the site. The ABA Center for Pro Bono offered to coordinate volunteer offers and send the contact information to the appropriate agencies in the affected states. Completed forms were received immediately and dozens were received within the first two hours after the process went live. Additionally, office space for displaced lawyers was offered through a database of available law space from around the country. The website also quickly became the primary tool for sharing information on the activities of state and local bar associations’ disaster efforts. The Katrina website also responded to the needs of law students and law schools by disseminating information about law school support

and programs for law student victims of the disaster. The ABA Katrina Disaster Relief Website continues to provide information and resources for affected victims, military personnel and lawyers as well as information for lawyers volunteering to assist the public. Through the site victims of Hurricane Katrina have access to links covering information on pro bono legal assistance, tax, health and insurance issues, state and government related information and much more. The website also offers information and resources to assist lawyer victims as they work to rebuild their practices and lives. Issues such as practice management, technology, health law, insurance coverage, property and children’s issues are all provided on the website. The ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

11

has teamed up with many ABA sections to provide free CLE programs on related legal topics ranging from environmental issues to emergency preparedness through the site. As of the end of November the ABA Katrina website had received 50,000 visitors and nearly 2,000 offers of assistance either through signing up for pro bono delivery, offering office space or manning hotlines. ABA YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION/FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY As has been the case for decades, the ABA’s first response team for declared national disasters was the Young Lawyers Division. Through an agreement with FEMA, the YLD provides tollfree hotlines to connect

12

callers to volunteer lawyers who can answer questions or refer callers to lawyers with specific expertise. Within 24 hours following Hurricane Katrina’s decimation of the Gulf Coast, the YLD had activated hotlines in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Volunteers were recruited to man the lines and relief efforts began as the lawyers received growing numbers of calls from hurricane victims trying to put their lives back together in the face of unprecedented devastation. As evacuees were routed to Texas, a fourth hotline was instituted there, also manned by local volunteers. To date, YLD volunteers have responded to over 6,400 calls in Louisiana, 5,500 calls in Mississippi, 400 calls in Texas and less than 50 in Alabama. All four

lines are still active and providing assistance and referrals. It is anticipated that they will remain in place well into 2006. CENTER FOR PRO BONO Since September 1st, approximately 1,750 volunteers have used the web link to communicate their willingness to work pro bono in support of disaster victims. Attorneys licensed to practice in every state (except South Dakota) as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, are represented in the volunteer pool. The same volunteer link also appears on the recently announced www.katrina legalaid.org website, a joint effort by the ABA, Legal Services Corporation, National Legal Aid and Defender Association and Pro Bono Net.

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

A recent survey of volunteers indicated that only 12% had been contacted by local legal services providers and pro bono coordinators in the affected areas; even though the names of almost all registered volunteers have been furnished to various programs. In large part, this is due to continuing difficulties local programs are experiencing with infrastructure and logistics relating to volunteer coordination and deployment. The volunteer lists distributed by the Center are provided to pro bono state support and access to justice staff persons identified as primary contacts in the relevant states. Currently the Center distributes volunteer lists to ten states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington. The Center has publicized the availability of volunteer lists to other states and will add states upon request. States receive the full volunteer list sorted by the state in which attorneys are licensed. Upon request, the list can further be sorted to focus on substantive areas of need. For example, contacts in Louisiana indicated an interest in long-term volunteers to staff a planned hotline. The Center provided a list of Louisiana licensed attorneys who indicated they are 1) willing to travel and 2) willing to commit a substan-

tial amount of time to volunteering. The Center is working with ABA colleagues on the Katrina Legal Resource website to develop rosters of lawyer-mentors who can support in-state lawyers (both volunteers and legal services lawyers) in specific practice areas. These names will be available for direct contact on an as-needed basis. Center staff members are also working closely with pro bono providers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi to assist with the challenges of gearing up their programs to handle requisite intake, screening and referral of clients. A number of programs have to do significant restructuring given the displacement of staff, others who have left the programs and a lack of financial resources. SECTIONS/DIVISIONS/ FORUMS The sections, divisions and forums of the ABA have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of the Association’s efforts. President Greco’s initial calls on how the ABA could be of assistance in this tragedy were to section leadership. A Topical Response Matrix was developed to track all of the disaster relief activities in an effort to keep everyone informed, allow coordination and eliminate duplication. The work of the sections is

focused in three critical areas: recruiting lawyers to provide direct pro bono legal services to victims of the hurricane; marshalling the expertise of members of ABA entities and making their knowledge available to both victims and to other lawyers who are assisting them; and helping lawyers whose lives and practices have been disrupted to get their professional lives back on track, through offers of office space, jobs and technical assistance. Additionally several entities have made significant financial contributions to the affected areas. A detailed report of section, division and forum activity is included in the appendices of this report. LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL The staff of the Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel assembled a contact list identifying those military legal assistance offices in the region that remained open in the wake of the hurricane. That list was posted on the ABA Katrina website within a few days of the storm as a resource for service members needing to know how to reach their units’ legal officers. The chair of the committee solicited the Chiefs of Legal Assistance of the five military branches to advise the Committee and the ABA

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

13

of any ways to be of assistance to them in terms of legal assistance challenges created by the disaster. Hurricane Katrina inflicted massive damage to Kessler AFB which is essentially on a 3 mile-wide peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Back Bay of Biloxi. Other military installations were also affected. Despite little sleep and without concern for their own personal loss, legal office personnel secured a new location and were providing basic legal assistance the day after people were released from base shelters. Quickly becoming experts on landlord-tenant law, insurance coverage law and bankruptcy law military lawyers initiated both private bankruptcy and tax tutorials with local experts to better educate themselves and better serve their clients.

14

By early November, the legal assistance team has handled over 2,200 office visits with 600 cases requiring attorney consultation and provided 705 powers of attorney, 112 affidavits, 60 wills and 1,260 other documents and services. ABA CENTER ON CHILDREN AND THE LAW The Center on Children and the Law received a grant from Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau. The $300,000 supplemental grant, shared equally with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Center for State Courts, will be used to identify and address the more urgent needs of courts and attorneys involved in child welfare proceedings and those responsible for providing

legal support to caseworkers. The Center will be conducting on-going needs assessments by surveying the legal/judicial community, including state and local bar associations in affected areas, child welfare agencies, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Children’s Defense Fund and other organizations to determine emerging areas of legal focus needing our assistance and the identification of lawyers who can provide onthe-ground legal help to children and families. LAW AND NATIONAL SECURITY/ SECTION OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW The Standing Committee on Law and National Security and the Section of State and Local Government Law were

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

asked to establish a working group to look at laws that need to be changed, new laws required to address catastrophes such as this in the future and determine necessary ABA policy issues. The group will focus its study on disaster response authority. One of the major problems identified from Hurricane Katrina is that officials did not fully utilize all of the authority they possessed under current law. The working group will explore both the Posse Comitatus Act and the Stafford Act and submit its findings, recommendations and policy positions in a white paper to the Hurricane Katrina Task Force. A key element that will be discussed in terms of disaster response authority is the question of whether there is a civil security issue or a national security issue and the military’s role in both contexts. The working group is discussing should there be a threshold above which the Department of Defense and the federal government are responsible. Recommendations will be completed in time for presentation to the House of Delegates at the ABA Annual Meeting. MEDIA RELATIONS ACTIVITIES Although it is clearly established that the ABA’s efforts in helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina is spurred by a desire to help and not

to garner favorable attention, the Division for Media Relations has had great success in spreading the word about the resources being provided by members of the Association. To date, nearly 50 print and broadcast stories on the ABA’s hurricane relief efforts have appeared nationally and in major markets including Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Washington, DC and Wilmington. President Greco has made several appearances on television and radio, including CNN Headline News and spoke on disaster relief issues to a number of TV audiences during a “media tour”. This tour reached an estimated audience of 4.8 million people in 42 broadcasts. Additionally customized news releases on the four hurricane hotlines reached an estimated 3.9 million listeners. NEXT STEPS: THE WORK AHEAD The ABA Task Force on Hurricane Katrina has a one year charge. However the issues within the regions devastated by the hurricane will continue for years to come. The justice system in Louisiana was left in shambles by the storm. Area bar associations are facing their biggest crises in history. Remnants of communities are struggling with social,

environmental and fundamental rights issues. The legal profession as a whole has received a wake-up call about the need for extensive and encompassing disaster preparedness documentation. In all, these are not issues that will go away over night. The Task Force will continue to work to spotlight long-term issues that must be addressed. We will work with the Division for Bar Services to secure the future of bar associations in the region. We will work with The White House to develop policy recommendations for our nation in housing, education and emergency preparedness. We will work with the ABA Justice Center to develop comprehensive solutions for the problems facing our justice system. We will continue to assist our sections, divisions and forums as they develop programming and policy to help the Gulf Coast victims, both within, and outside of the profession, recover and rebuild. We will continue our efforts to expand the ability of pro bono volunteers to fill the legal services needs in the state of Louisiana. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the hundreds of thousands of victims will continue to need the help of America’s lawyers to put their lives back together. The American Bar Association stands ready to answer the call. I

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

15

A VIEW FROM THE GROUND: Q&A WITH JUDY PERRY MARTINEZ

Ariel View of New Orleans, La., taken on Aug. 31, 2005, two days after Hurricane Katrina struck causing damage to the Superdome sports arena. Photo credit: NOAA.

This interview appeared in the October 2005 issue of Your ABA.

Q&A with Judy Perry Martinez YourABA spoke with Judy Perry Martinez, a NewOrleans based member of the ABA House of Delegates and former Board of Governors member, about her experiences during Hurricane Katrina and the challenge facing the legal community in the wake of the storm.

Q: Tell us a little about your evacuation from New Orleans. A: We have a usual family hurricane preparation drill that we go through, with all of the children helping. We board up as many windows and doors as we can with plywood. We move every-

16

thing we can upstairs to the second story of our home. We have approximately 11foot ceilings so we move up those things we care about in terms of property so that they will be sufficiently protected. We move up all of our photographs, our artwork, and portraits of the kids. You can’t move the piano, which you are sentimental about, or many pieces of furniture, but most of the smaller things are brought up. We have done this routine for the last several evacuations, never dreaming that our efforts would be less than sufficient to protect our belongings. With Hurricane Katrina, our family was very fortunate that our preparation efforts were sufficient for our home. But obviously, even those efforts would not have been enough to protect the prop-

erty of many families in the City of New Orleans from the destruction of Katrina. We never hesitate to evacuate because we have four children and a mother who lives with us. So we actually got my mom, who has some health issues, out of town even before we departed. We left at about 6:00 on Saturday evening and took our usual evacuation route, which was to the home of my wonderful brother and sister-in-law in Baton Rouge. The usual hour and 15 minute ride to Baton Rouge from New Orleans took us 3 hours on Saturday. In the last hurricane, it took us about 7 hours, and during that hurricane, we were actually stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and a drunk driver came barreling down the middle of the interstate and hit our

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

car, along with seven other cars. So, as far as the evacuation itself went, you could call this one somewhat calm compared to the last one our family experienced. By Sunday evening, before Katrina hit on early Monday morning, my brother and his wife’s house was home to 20 members of our extended family, three Labradors, one bird and ultimately even more animals as they were found.

Q: How old are your kids? A: 16, 13, 12 and 11. They can definitely help with the hurricane preparation, and they do. They’re veterans, especially these past few years. Evacuations have become a fact of life.

Q: When did you return to New Orleans, and could you tell us a bit about what you have found. What kind of losses did you sustain? A: We live right off of St. Charles Avenue in what’s called Uptown. The first time my husband returned was about two weeks after the hurricane. Not knowing how we would find our city and our home, we made a conscious decision that both of us would not go and leave the children, so he went back with friends. Our home was remarkably intact. We had some minor damage, some wind damage to the house, and wind driven rain damage in one room

upstairs. We had a fence down, a tree fell, some boards off, and we lost one car that we left behind. We had had about two feet of water in our driveway. It was my son’s car that was totaled. Relatively speaking, we did really well. I grew up in St. Bernard’s Parish, and out of the 20 or so people at my brother’s home, making up seven households, we were the only ones whose home did not have six or more feet of water. My oldest brother, who is a lawyer, lost the home in which he lived. It was the home where I grew up. He lost his law office, which is right next to the parish courthouse, on the same street. He lost two other homes that he and his wife had purchased and renovated over the past three years, which they were leasing out. So they lost all four pieces of property, and everything in them. But truly, we all feel very fortunate compared to what other families have gone through. We are all safe and together, and we lost no one in our family to the hurricane. What did we find when we went back to New Orleans? The area was devastated. Upon going back and seeing even a small part of the City that was open, the only word that came to mind was surreal, followed by eerie and desolate, although now small pockets are striving to come back to

life. There was no activity, but now each time we go back we see a little more. At this point, there is not a lot of police presence or National Guard presence. Even now, our neighborhood is not a neighborhood filled with people, cars, pets, and activity, although little by little some neighbors are moving back. We live by an all girls’ Catholic school and it is silent as opposed to full of life as it usually is. You don’t hear the noises yet that you’re so used to hearing as the background of your life.

Q: Sort of like on and after 9/11 when all the planes were grounded, when it was eerily quiet? A: I’ll tell you something that really struck me. We live in this beautiful old 1896 home that we bought and completely restored, and through our bedroom window we can hear the sound of the streetcars rolling by on St. Charles Avenue. When we first moved here, ten years ago, it was a sound that we had to get used to. And now we miss it. It’s the little things that you don’t think about until they are absent that you truly miss.

Q: What kind of disaster plans are in place? How do employers communicate with their employees? A: During and following Katrina, the newspapers

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

17

weren’t operating; the television networks weren’t operating out of New Orleans. Remember, for several days, even much of Baton Rouge did not have power. There is a radio station that originated out of a truly wonderful collaborative effort by several New Orleans radio broadcast stations that realized they couldn’t operate on their own immediately following Katrina–URB, United Radio Broadcasters. They’re on 24 hours a day, and all these previously competitive DJs–gospel, oldies, rock, news–are working side by side. Their service throughout both hurricanes went uninterrupted. They have been the lifeline for everyone down here. Parish, city and state officials used the station to communicate to all who desperately wanted news about their

18

cities and their neighborhoods, and members of the public even called in when they were looking for a family member. So a lot of employers also have used this station to get the word out: first, to make sure that their employees are safe, then to get people back to work as soon as possible, so that businesses can get up and running again and people can get paychecks in their hands. Many employers, such as mine, continued payroll for their employees for a period of time following the storm even when they were shut down, set up Disaster Relief Centers so that employees can more easily access available FEMA and Red Cross resources, established toll free phone numbers for employees to receive information on company provided

resources, are providing bus transportation from surrounding cities so that people who want to return to work but have lost their homes can do so, and are even providing temporary housing to a number of workers where possible.

Q: Where are you staying now? A: We bought a small condo in Baton Rouge. Fortunately, we could do that. All four kids sleep on bunk beds in one bedroom. I guess it’s a preparation for college life, for dorm life. Baton Rouge has welcomed so many into its arms and has allowed us to grieve, heal and in some ways continue our “New Orleans” lives while trying to start anew there. You run into your hometown friends in the grocery store–the first thing you

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

do is shed a few tears when you see someone in your life again for the first time “postKatrina,” then you give them a hug. You exchange stories, exchange new phone numbers and addresses and promise to get together soon–like before the hurricane. All the while the people of Baton Rouge, and so many cities like it, have opened their homes, their highways and their hearts to those of us who originally came to spend a day or two in their city and have now made it our new home. The kids have been remarkable. They have kept their chins up. They have been thrown into new schools. All of their extracurricular activities have been taken away. Their friends have been scattered, they’re all over the country. My youngest little boy has a good friend now living in Minnesota, another in Florida. My other two young ones have a couple of displaced friends in their classes at their new schools; that’s very comforting to them. Our children have friends who have lost their homes and all of their contents. Ten days after the hurricane, I was in a meeting of parents from my two oldest sons’ high school and learned that their school still had chestdeep water. That’s a school for 1,400 students. Our kids’ grammar school is right off St. Charles Street adjacent to Tulane University and across from Audubon

Park. It’s a school built in the late 1800s and it was used by the military as a staging area during the early weeks of recovery. I saw photographs on the Web–the school parking lot was packed with Humvees. The buildings sustained little damage, but the teachers are scattered, many having lost their homes. Both of our schools are planning to start up in January. The public schools are in much worse shape. In New Orleans Parish proper, many schools will not open until the next school year, meaning the fall of 2006. Before the hurricane, when we were living in some sense of normalcy, my husband or I always said grace at dinner. Shortly before Katrina, we decided to start asking the kids to take turns, and if no one volunteered to say grace, Mom or Dad would say it. Last night, our son–our 13-year old–said grace. He prayed for all the folks, for all the people who lost members of their families. He prayed for the people in shelters. Our 10-year old added, “pray for the people in the earthquake.” Children are so aware of all that is happening in their little lives, and yet they choose in their prayers to focus on others–I am sure that is a prayer being said at lots of dinner tables across the country. So, if our children are willing to make the best of this situation, there’s no excuse for us not to. It’s the kids

that allow you to move on–more importantly, to renew life. It’s inspiring to my husband and me how they have dealt with the storm and its aftermath, and I hear that sentiment from so many other parents as well.

Q: How hard hit was the legal system? What kind of problems does it face in rebuilding? A: There are law firms, big and small, that have been devastated while others have fared well. Lawyers are doing what they can, some operating out of several different cities because their offices have been destroyed. Some firms have been fortunate not to miss a beat while others have partners not getting paid some or all of what they are accustomed to, because they want their staff to be paid through the rough times and continue health benefits. Some firms cut back temporarily on some percentage of pay to staff and then anytime money comes in the door the first thing they do is make up the percentage that the staff has missed. Some solo practitioners and small firms have been hard hit and you must remember that because most of the courts are not operating the pace of litigation-related work has slowed to a crawl and thus receivables and fees at some plaintiff as well as defense firms will be impacted for months to come. There’s a lot of sacrificing

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

19

going on. I’ve heard anecdotally over and over again that the biggest thing that lawyers are striving for is to see that there’s minimal disruption in client services. They are doing all they can to make sure that clients know how to reach them and that they can reconnect with clients to render services. Many in heavily hit areas have lost files and are struggling to reestablish vital records of clients when the state agencies that provide them suffered significant damage and are unable to respond. Lawyers I know have been going in to their offices, despite the challenges that they face at home with rebuilding. They may not even have met yet with their homeowner or flood insurance adjuster concerning their own house, yet they’re still spending hours in their

20

offices reconnecting with clients and getting their practices up and running again. And of course, the courts in the City of New Orleans as well as across the Gulf Coast that suffered impact from the storm are struggling to restart operations. Again, many of the members of the bench, federal and state, along with their law clerks, clerks of court, public defenders, prosecutors, investigators, marshals and parole officers have lost their own homes, yet they have worked hard each day since August 29 to get the court system up and running again. When that will happen varies from courthouse to courthouse– some have already reestablished minimal dockets, but the efforts of all those involved need to be recognized, and most importantly, supported.

Q: Can you comment on the long-term loss to the profession–and to clients–that may result from the incredible losses members of the profession sustained? More generally, what might that loss mean in terms of the public? A: I don’t see an overall longterm loss to the profession if we act now, but what I do anticipate is the individual losses that will be borne for many, many years by those who have put decades of heart and soul into building their practices. If the members of the profession in Louisiana who were spared and other able members of our profession across the country do not step up and help those individual lawyers who have suffered the devastation of Katrina and Rita, then we may lose talented and dedicated professionals who have made

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

our Louisiana Bar and our practice what it is today. What I see is there’s a real desire for many firms to stay together–a real desire for many solo practitioners to go back to being the town or neighborhood lawyer. And it’s difficult when families scatter to different cities and when children are in different schools, so the circumstances of lawyer displacement are impacting some firms’ ability to stay together and the sole practitioner’s ability to reopen. You may end up seeing smaller satellite offices survive for some time because of displacement. As to how legal services available to the disadvantaged have been impacted, in that regard the impact has been great. The Southeast Legal Services Office, which had its main office in New Orleans, continues to operate out of its Hammond office, but some of its staff are in Shreveport and

elsewhere. Other legal services offices in Mississippi and Louisiana were seriously impacted also. Their clients as well as those of non-profit legal service organizations are struggling to find answers to questions regarding child custody, housing, domestic violence and benefits. Many of their clients have been displaced and relocated to shelters or outside of cities with public transportation and thus just traveling to a legal services provider can be difficult. Dedicated lawyers with those offices have been working long hours to reconnect with their clients and meet those legal needs. The Louisiana State Bar has exhibited extraordinary effort in its response to the disaster. LSBA President Frank Neuner and the bar staff have been extraordinary in running the state bar out of its new temporary home in Lafayette.

Frank, along with his fellow bar leaders, has established a fund to assist lawyers whose practices were destroyed by Katrina and Rita and is working hard to assist displaced lawyers and their clients to reconnect. I’m sure the Bars of Mississippi and Alabama are doing similar great things to lead the way to recovery. The ABA has been instrumental in offering assistance in the development of an effective plan to reach both impacted lawyers and clients. The Section of Litigation is working on a plan to assist in funding legal services in the disaster area. As the months progress, there’s going to be heard a rallying cry from state and local bars in our area for help, and I have no doubt that our colleagues in the bar and on the bench across the country will respond generously with their time, talent and resources. I

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

21

APPENDIX REPORT OF SECTION OFFICERS CONFERENCE

South Plaquemines Parish, La., near Empire, Buras, and Boothville where Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005. The vessel pushed on shore demonstrates Katrina’s power. Photo credit: NOAA.

Antitrust Law Chair: Donald C. Klawiter The Section of Antitrust Law committed over $100,000 in cash and provided additional resources via in-kind services to Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. This effort included a joint project with the Section of Litigation, to provide about $230,000 to fund several legal services organizations in the hurricane affected areas. The majority of this money will be allocated for additional staffing at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (in the New Orleans and surrounding area) and Acadiana Legal Services (serving Lake Charles, Lafayette, and surrounding areas ). Additionally, the Antitrust Section underwrote a special project for Houston PBS (KUHT -TV), coordinated by the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston

22

Law Center. The television program, directed by Professor Richard Alderman, aired October 3, 2005 and provided legal counseling for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. For three days, the Center for Consumer Law maintained a call-in center to address legal questions from the evacuees. The week culminated on Saturday October 8th with the “Evacuee’s People’s Law School,” a specialized version of the “People’s Law School,” which is a free program at the University of Houston Law Center designed to help make the law “user friendly” to the layperson. About 80 lawyers volunteered for the call center. Nearly 1,000 calls were taken, and approximately 600 people attended the programs held on the weekend. The Section also provided law office recovery for members of the Section their firm

colleagues in the affected areas by replacing books and materials that may have been destroyed in the hurricane, in addition to offering assistance and support in organizing their offices and cases. Section members were also encouraged to provide assistance in pro bono legal matters that arise from the needs of the disaster victims. Finally, the Section provided a website vehicle for potential employers, recruiters or others with antitrust and consumer law job opportunities to communicate that information to attorneys impacted by the hurricane.

Business Law Chair: Alvin W. Thompson The Section of Business Law has mobilized four working groups that are addressing the issues of bankruptcy, debt deferment, affordable housing,

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

and small business recovery. All working groups have established pages on the Section’s Disaster Recovery Homepage. The Bankruptcy Disaster Relief Working Group’s goal is to provide assistance to the attorneys working with businesses and consumers facing bankruptcy due to disaster losses. The group has developed a bankruptcy primer for attorneys not familiar with the bankruptcy code who are providing pro bono assistance to storm victims. The establishment of a peer-to-peer answer service for attorneys who wish to speak with a bankruptcy specialist regarding non casespecific issues is being explored. An audio conference is also under development to provide information and resources regarding the impact of the recent amendments to the bankruptcy code on storm victims facing bankruptcy. The Community Economic Development Working Group is providing resource materials and educational opportunities to attorneys advising victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes on how to locate available housing, increase the stock of affordable housing and rebuild business within the affected communities. The group has prepared a summary of information about the various government programs available to help finance the rebuilding of housing and businesses. The group is partnering with the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing to sponsor educa-

tional programs on affordable housing and community economic development in light of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. The Debt Deferment Working Group’s goals are to work with financial institutions and other creditors to defer payment of disaster victims’ debts without victims having to resort to bankruptcy; avoid foreclosures on disaster victims’ properties; work with financial institutions to enable disaster victims to regain access to banking services; enable disaster victims to make effective use of other financial assistance that may be available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Agency or other sources. The group has collected information available from state and federal agencies, financial institutions, insurance companies, state bar associations and other sources. The information has been analyzed and summarized to make it more readily useful for attorneys in the field who can now access it online. Some materials may also be prepared in printed form for distribution to attorneys or lay persons. The Small Business Recovery Working Group’s goal is to provide assistance to small businesses and their legal counsel as they recover from losses caused by Hurricane Katrina or other natural disasters in the areas of taxation, governance, real estate, contracts, labor and employment. The group has collected information available

from state and federal agencies, financial institutions, insurance companies, state bar associations and other sources. The information has been analyzed, summarized and posted online for use in the field. Finally, the Section has committed financial support to the New Orleans Bar Association to assist in the rebuilding of the legal system in Southeast Louisiana. An immediate grant of $10,000 has been issued with the commitment of an additional $100,000 in project support as needs become clear.

Center on Children and the Law – Young Lawyers Division Chair: Christina Plum The ABA Center on Children and the Law, in late September, received a $300,000 award from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address legal and judicial issues related to children and families in state child welfare systems affected by Hurricane Katrina. This oneyear project is being conducted under the auspice of the Center’s federally-supported child welfare “national resource center,” teaming with National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ to help address a range of law-related needs raised by the Hurricane Katrina disaster.) Project tasks include the following:

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

23

Identifying urgent needs of child welfare attorneys and dependency courts in hurricane-affected areas, as well as where children and caretakers have relocated thus placed challenges on local legal and judicial systems; I Matching law-related resources needed by child welfare agencies and courts affected by the hurricane with resources offered by state courts, family/juvenile courts, and attorneys; I Providing, through this national partnership, direct support to hurricane affected child welfare agency, legal, and court communities to help meet their needs; I Helping address the child welfare-related legal needs of individual children, parents and other caretakers affected by Katrina, through recruitment and use of a cadre pro bono “child welfare specialist” lawyer volunteers as well as other volunteer pro bono assistance; I Studying and reporting on complex law or court-related issues affecting child safe permanency, and well-being in families affected by Katrina, such as legal barriers effectively serving children in foster care who were displaced by Katrina, including analysis of child welfare legislative and policy improvements to help them as well as those who may be affected by future disasters or wide-scale emergencies; and I Maintaining a special Katrina-related website I

24

(www.abanet.org/child/ katrina) with updated useful information for legal and judicial communities on addressing Katrina related child welfare issues. An assessment instrument has been prepared to help in identifying the help locally-affected juvenile courts and child welfare agencies may need due to the relocation of children and families or the destruction of case records. The Center is also working with several law schools, at which professors and students are collaborating with us on studying law-related issues that affect families involved in the child protective system. This includes legal implications of child and family relocation to another state after a disaster, as well as legal aspects of child welfare agency and juvenile court disaster planning. The NCSC will provide a series of on-line video clips addressing “lessons learned” by juvenile courts in Katrina’s aftermath, and along with the NCJFCJ they will write an Emergency Preparedness Guide, so that the courts hearing child welfare cases can be pro-active in planning for future disasters.

Criminal Justice Chair: Michael S. Pasano Based on information transmitted to us by a number of on site lawyers, Hurricane Katrina dealt a major blow to the local criminal justice system in the three Gulf States affected by the storm and demonstrated

the need for disaster preparedness at every level of the system and revealed how poorly prepared the system is in times of catastrophe. From several lawyers, we hear of individuals arrested for minor crimes the night before and the night of the hurricane who were abandoned in prisons with those serving time for more serious crimes and many nearly drowned as they were locked in cells the doors of which would not open after the power went out. Horror continued once they were released with many taken to a sports field holding 8,000 evacuees for three days without food and water, and then loaded onto buses crowded with handcuffed inmates and driven to remote facilities by exhausted drivers one of whom fell asleep and wrecked into power lines shocking passengers. The displaced were given no telephone access, no information, no hearing, no word to or from family, and for many in for minor infractions, no release for the next ten, twenty, thirty or more days. The situation has led the Criminal Justice Section to establish a Disaster Preparedness Committee to advise the Section on how the system can avoid another such debacle when strained again by catastrophe. Given the enormity of the criminal justice problems exposed by the hurricanes, our actions detailed below may seem paltry, but we are determined to learn from the

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

problems revealed by these recent disasters and to press to reform the system and to strengthen it not only to protect the public from those who may wrongfully escape but also to protect the integrity of the system itself. Immediately following the hurricane, the Criminal Justice Section of the America Bar Association sent an e-message to its general membership concerning hurricane relief. The message called upon members to contribute to relief effort and contained a pledge of $1,000 in honor of the Criminal Justice Section from the Section Chair. The pledge was met when Michael Pasano made a $1,000 contribution to the Fraternal Order of the Police Disaster Relief Fund to assist police officers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama displaced by the hurricane. The message to the general membership concerning Katrina also contained the link to the ABA Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort on the ABA home page and the Section encouraged its members to volunteer for the relief effort. The Criminal Justice Section also sent a special message to its members from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children seeking information on shelters that may have accepted evacuees. The Section obtained the list of volunteer attorneys who had signed up via the ABA web site to assist on criminal justice issues from the ABA

volunteer coordinator and contacted all those who signed up about assisting with interviews of the large number of displaced prisoners shipped away from coastal cities. These volunteers were asked whether they would be willing to travel at their own expense and on short notice to the effected states to do information gathering with displaced inmates. An amazing number (over 33) of them agreed to do travel on short notice at their own expense. Volunteers spent time doing fact finding interviews with inmates via telephone. This project was done in cooperation with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The Section offered registration scholarships and travel cost assistance to displaced attorneys effected by the hurricane and arranged to fly an attorney who moved to Atlanta from New Orleans because of the hurricane to its fall meeting. The attorney was also made the Chair of the Section Disaster Preparedness Task Force. The work of this Task Force is just beginning, but is informed by personal and direct experience with the breakdown in the system and a commitment to identify ways to avoid another such catastrophe. The Section Disaster Preparedness Task Force under its Homeland Security Committee researched ABA policy on disaster preparedness for courts and shared that poli-

cy with its leadership and those involved with the committee and others and is now undertaking to study ways to avoid criminal justice systemic breakdown in times of disaster.

Dispute Resolution Chair: Robyn C. Mitchell The Section of Dispute Resolution is working on sev- Satellite Image of Hurricane Katrina eral projects. It has established making landfall. Photo credit: NOAA. a small working group consisting of Homer La Rue, Lela Love, Elle Miller, Mel Rubin (who played an integral role in the conflict resolution process the last hurricane that hit Florida), and Maria Volpe (who was one of the key players in the response by the dispute resolution community to the 9/11 attack in New York City). The Working Group is exploring opportunities for Section members to be involved in pro bono as well as entrepreneurial efforts that aid the survivors of the hurricane. The Section has also established and is hosting a listserv for individuals and groups who have expertise and availability for service related to disaster relief: [email protected]. We believe that it is important for the Section to provide information in the near future and further out and to create a community where people can go for information and discussion about disaster response. The Dispute Resolution Section also has created a clearinghouse for dispute resolution initiatives targeted to disaster victims, which is post-

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

25

Grand Isle, La., taken on Aug. 31, 2005, two days after Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast. Photo credit: NOAA.

ed on our web site at http://www/abanet/org/ dispute/katrina.html. Organizations in search of expert or volunteers for dispute resolution services are invited to use this list, which is available to all interested parties. In addition, an initiative to promote public dialogue around issues of poverty, race and class brought to the fore by the hurricanes is underway with the IR&R section. At the Section’s Eighth Annual Conference in Atlanta, a model curriculum will be launched at the Legal Educator’s Colloquium. The DR and IRR Sections also plan to host additional discussions in the late spring-early summer. Finally, we are working on a resource in response to a request from the New Orleans Bar Association on Communication Tools to Defuse Conflict. The resource

26

will be used by NOBA staff and will also be available on the Section’s website.

Environment, Energy, and Resources Chair: Lynn L. Bergeson Section Katrina Task Force— Under the leadership of Task Force Chair Steve McKinney, the Section formed its Katrina Task Force immediately after Hurricane Katrina. The Task Force organized a plenary session at the Section’s Fall Meeting in Nashville, has organized and conducted a series of Quick Teleconferences (QT) on Katrina-related issues, and is serving as a member of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Katrina Task Force and assisting the broader efforts of the ABA to help the victims of these natural disasters. The Section’s October 6, 2005, 90minute QT focused on the practical problems of debris

removal and management. On November 29, 2005, the Section will sponsor another 90-minute QT that will focus on permitting and compliance issues. What makes these QTs special and so illustrative of our Section’s commitment to our members and to public service is the Section’s offering of up to 20 telephone lines free of charge to people living within the affected areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Our QT service provider, ConferTel, should be recognized for its assistance and generosity in making these lines available. Two more QTs are planned—one focusing on decision-making in a disaster zone and the other on health effect implications of these natural disasters. Section Request for Blanket Authority—In November, the Section requested blanket

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

authority to submit comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and key House and Senate Committees expressing the Section’s opposition to legislation that authorizes or creates broad exemptions, suspicion or waivers of federal or state environmental laws. The request arises from the Section’s Council resolution dated September 25, 2005, expressing the Council support for the appropriate use of exemptions available under existing environmental law, but opposing new blanket suspensions of federal environmental requirements which are believed to be unnecessary and likely to have damaging, unintended, long-term impacts. Under the strong leadership of Irma Russell, Chair of the Strategic Response Committee, Committee members produced a top-flight white paper on current legislative proposals to exempt activities from federal environmental legislation, the more than 50 existing exemptions under current federal law, and an analysis of the risks posed by blanket exemptions to environmental regulations. Irma and her Committee did an outstanding job in developing a superb piece of scholarship that will assist lawmakers and others in considering legislative initiatives in this regard. Creation of Section Website – Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, the Section launched its Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort Website. The site contained much useful information and is organized in the following categories: general infor-

mation, disaster help, emergency & environmental resources (state emergency & environmental resources (federal), and legal resources. The site also has a public and members only section. The latter site offers help to Section members who have been displaced by these natural disasters.

Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Chair: Ronald M. Katz The Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development has taken several steps with respect towards addressing Katrina and natural disaster-related issues. Forrest Milder and Gloria Green were appointed chairs of the Forum’s Committee to address these issues, and with Ron Katz, the chair of the Forum, we have concluded that the best use of the Forum’s collected skills is in educational programs. Using the Forum’s listserv of several hundred members, Forrest and Gloria have formed a committee which is considering how the Forum can best serve the needs of the community through the ABA. The Committee chairs had a conference call with Marni Wright and Myles Lynk, the Committee on Community Economic Development of the Business Law Section and Myles Lynk have since had a conference with their committee members, and will be getting back to the Forum. The Forum proposed a plenary program as well as a smaller program built around

Katrina issues for presentation at the ABA’s annual meeting in 2006. Wayne Neveu, one of the early chairs of the Forum, and a practicing attorney in New Orleans, was invited to our most recent Board of Governor’s meeting, at which we had several lengthy discussions of Katrina issues, and the Forum’s response. We have added a special Katrina “track” to our annual program in Washington, DC, in May, 2006, as well as keynote speakers related to the disaster. This track, consisting of five courses, has been designed and moderators for all the programs have been selected. It represents an approximately 20% increase in the course offerings at our annual seminar. We are considering the development of a Katrinainspired symposium, to be heard in New Orleans, in April, 2006. A detailed outline has been prepared with the working title, “Working the Communities Affected by Disasters,” detailing seven programs, “Figuring out what happened and how to stop it from happening again,” “Putting Together a Development Plan,” “Who has to come to the table?.” “Developing the Goals,” “Getting Funding,” “Getting the Approvals Required for Development,” “Bringing People and Business back to the Community,” “The Experience of Other Communities Affected by the Disaster,” and “Representing People Displaced by

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

27

Disaster.” We are still reviewing how to proceed with this proposal, which may include working with the CED of the BLS as described above. Wayne Neveu is very interested in this program and looking into logistics, etc. We are also considering a telephone conference on disaster-related issues for January, 2006. This would be the Forum’s second telephone conference. Our first program had an excellent turnout, and we anticipate that this one would also draw good attendance.

Forum on the Construction Industry Chair: Douglas Oles The purpose of this memorandum is to summarize activity of the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry (FCI) regarding Hurricane Katrina. Initially, the FCI prepared to address options for Hurricane Katrina related matters at the fall meeting in September of 2005. Just prior to that meeting, the ABA announced the creation of the Hurricane Katrina Task Force. The ABA indicated its desire to coordinate efforts of all Sections, Divisions and Forums through the Task Force. As a result, the FCI identified its liaison to the Task Force and agreed to table its final decision on all options pending participation in the upcoming meeting of the Hurricane Katrina Task Force.

28

The FCI has considered several options which it will implement at or shortly following input from the Hurricane Katrina Task Force. The options considered by the FCI are as follows: Cash donations to the New Orleans Pro Bono Project, and Louisiana pro bono Legal Services offices; Presentation of telephone CLE on legal issues arising from Hurricane Katrina (topics include preparation and submission of insurance claims; insurance coverage; employee liability; post-hurricane discovery of construction defects; force majeure on construction projects; and licensure/regulation of contractors). Donation of books and other Forum publications to law libraries/law schools/public service agencies; Construction of homes with Habitat for Humanity; Schedule Forum annual/fall or other major meetings in New Orleans; Solicit volunteers for service as arbitrators or mediators on property damage and construction related claims; and Solicit volunteers to represent legal assistance clients under the auspices of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project. The FCI will coordinate its efforts with the American Bar Association in consideration on input and direction provided by the Hurricane Katrina Task Force. We will remain open to other suggestions, and provide greater detail on the suggestions listed above following our meeting with the Task Force.

General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division Chair: Dwight L. Smith The General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division has been actively involved in the ABA’s Hurricane Katrina and Rita disaster relief efforts. The Division’s staff took part in early efforts by participating on the ABA’s Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Committee. As part of the Committee, the Division helped provide ideas regarding the implementation of the ABA’s Hurricane Disaster Resources Webpage and helped to coordinate a job offer listing through the ABA’s Find-A-Job service for displaced lawyers. Soon after the staff committee was up and running, the ABA President asked the Division to get involved in the member efforts by providing a member to work on the ABA’s Disaster Relief Task Force. Division Chair-Elect John Macy was chosen and now serves on the Task Force, representing the special needs of our solo and small firm colleagues. In addition to participating in discussion regarding the implementation of the ABA Hurricane Katrina Disaster Resources Webpage, the Division has also been instrumental in helping to provide and identify Division resources to post to the webpage. For example, the Division has made available for free the chapter A Checklist for Opening or Moving Your Law Firm for those who need help in relocating their office

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

(Chapter available for download at: http://www.abanet. org/genpractice/books/36.pdf. Division leaders also made contact with active Division members who live in the affected areas in order to find out how they were and if there was anything that the Division could do to help them. Division Chair Dwight Smith also wrote a letter, sent via email, to all Division members living in the affected areas to let them know the Division is here to support them in this time of crisis. Finally, the Division will be sponsoring a CLE program at the 2006 Midyear Meeting titled “Protecting Your Practice and Being Proactive Against Natural Disasters.” This program was developed with the idea of providing solo and small firm lawyers with the tools and information they’ll need to avoid the practice-devastation experienced by so many solo and small firm lawyers affected by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. In conclusion, the Division continues to monitor the situation and is available to assist the ABA as called upon. We will look to provide more resources and programs on this subject in the future while also monitoring the needs of our fellow Division members in the affected areas.

Health Law Chair: Gregory L. Pemberton The Health Law Section has worked through the Public Health & Policy Interest Group

to reach out to the state health directors in the four states that have been affected by hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. The Section wants to find out what were the legal needs of the states and how could the needs be met by lawyer volunteer members. We are awaiting responses from the state health directors. The Public Health & Policy Interest Group continues to work closely with the CDC to identify issues and possible projects. The Section is also working with the Public Health Law Association (PHLA) on the PHLA’s next annual conference in May. That conference will address issues raised and lessons learned from the public health and legal perspectives. Hal Katz, chair of the Public Health & Policy Interest Group, is a member of the planning committee. The Health Law Section leadership and the Public Health & Policy Interest Group have pulled together resources that may be of assistance to those that are called upon to assist clients with, or volunteer to provide, legal services and disaster relief. The site contains links to information on topics that they may be called upon to address.

Individual Rights and Responsibilities Chair: Paul M. Igasaki The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities is working with the Section of Dispute Resolution to develop an edu-

cational module for professors of dispute resolution on race and poverty issues that surfaced following Hurricane Katrina. These modules eventually will be modified to provide training for legal services providers and volunteers who work with the victims of Hurricane Katrina. At the 2006 Annual Meeting, the Section will sponsor a program that will examine the effects of Hurricane Katrina from a civil rights perspective and will explore what the effects of the hurricane, particularly in New Orleans, demonstrate about race and poverty in our country, specifically in terms of access to justice and the political process. The Section also is working with the Health Law Section to address issues such as managed care and governmental medical assistance for victims of Katrina.

Intellectual Property Law Chair: E. Anthony Figg The Section of Intellectual Property Law, under the direction of its Chair Anthony Figg and Section Director, Betsi Roach, quickly responded to the ABA effort and call for action in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Section utilized its website and electronic communications, with immediate access to its 20,000 members, to post communications and link to information and action. The Section posted links on its home page to the ABA Katrina website for victims and their families, lawyer

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

29

Hurricane Katrina’s eyewall taken by a NOAA P-3 hurricane hunter pilot on Aug. 28, 2005, a day before the powerful storm came barreling into the USA Gulf Coast. Photo credit: NOAA.

assistance and volunteer efforts, as well as a special link to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website for specific information on patent and trademark applications, proceedings, and registrations. To emphasize the emergency, the IPL Section highlighted Katrina efforts in its August electronic newsletter with additional links to the ABA Katrina website.

International Law Chair: Michael H. Byowitz We reached out to our members in the areas impacted by Katrina and offered assistance (help with finding temporary office space, etc). Heard from a few and acted as a clearinghouse. We also provided a link from our homepage to the ABA homepage for additional resources.

30

Justice Center Chair: Judge John Vittone – Justice Center Coordinating Council The Justice Center responded to the disaster left by Hurricane Katrina by developing a website with links to updates on the status of the courts, several articles on disaster relief, and information on emergency legislation. This link was sent for posting to the ABA Katrina website. Chair of the Justice Center Coordinating Council, Judge John M. Vittone, formed the Task Force on Disaster and the Courts to develop a court response plan to be used in the event of different types of disasters. The Task Force will include members of the state courts, the Federal courts and other Justice Center entities. Additionally, three or four articles on court disaster relief were produced and will

appear in the Winter 2006 issue of the Judges’ Journal. Currently, the Justice Center, at the request of the ABA Task Force, is coordinating the delivery of donated supplies and computer equipment to three counties in Mississippi that were greatly affected by the Hurricane. The Justice Center will continue to seek donations and facilitate the delivery of office supplies and computer equipment to the devastated courts in the Gulf Coast Region.

Law Practice Management Chair: Carl G. Roberts The ABA Law Practice Management Section’s (LPM) efforts are focused primarily on assistance to lawyers in recovering their office files and data and restarting their law practices. We have also continued to provide information on

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

prospective disaster prevention and planning efforts, which we plan to continue throughout the coming year. LPM has assembled past articles and CLE materials on disaster recovery and building a practice, and is jointly posting this information on the ABA Web site through the LPM Web site, the LTRC Web site, and the ABA Katrina Web site. Examples include such titles as “Managing Practice Interruptions,” “What Lawyers Should Do After a Hurricane,” and “Disaster Recovery for Law Firms,” excerpted from the ABA LPM book, the Essential Formbook: Comprehensive Management Tools for Lawyers Volume IV, and provide free of charge. I LPM assisted ABA Publishing in compiling a toolkit of resources, available from the ABA Webstore, that is composed of materials produced primarily by Section programs (publications and CLE). I LPM members have remained in touch with state and local bar associations to point them to ABA resources. I LPM is cross-linking to sister organizations such as the Association of Legal Administrators, the International Legal Technology Association, and others who have developed their own resource pages. I Some LPM and GP active members formed a private resource center, www.help katrinalawyers.org which is I

gathering resources on technology assistance for lawyers and firms. This effort is not currently affiliated with ABA, but some members have expressed interest in obtaining ABA support for it. LPM and GP are currently linking to this effort. I LPM has assembled a Task Force, chaired by LPM Council member Tom O’Connor, to coordinate the Section’s efforts with other ABA and outside organizations.

Law Student Division Chair: Vicki Goodman The Law Student Division focused its Hurricane Katrina efforts primarily on being an information resource for New Orleans law students from Tulane University Law School and Loyola University Law School displaced by the disaster, as well as, for law students across the country looking for information on how to assist their affected fellow law students. As a result of the disaster, Tulane closed its doors for the fall semester, and Loyola opened a satellite branch at the University of Houston, largely for the benefit of first-year students. In response to the deluge of calls and emails from displaced students, the Division rapidly created a webpage linked to the ABA’s disaster site providing information from the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) on law schools offering to take in displaced law students – most of them waiving the semester

tuition. With their law school websites offline, the displaced law students were anxious to secure information, formulate plans and make decisions quickly as the fall semester for many of the law schools had already begun. For the countless number of law students contacting the Division offering contributions and other assistance for disaster victims, the Division put its Student Bar Association (SBA) list serve and website into overdrive requesting and sharing fundraising ideas and activities from our nation’s law schools. To date, 77 law schools have reported to the Division fundraising activities which have generated over $302,000 for various relief agencies. Resourceful students from the University of Missouri School of Law secured a donation of 11 laptop computers and using the Division’s list serve collected the necessary information to distribute computers to students in need. Other law school -SBAs have shared information on their spring break projects designed to assist their fellow law students in New Orleans. Many law school clinics are reporting their clinic work will focus on proving legal aid to Katrina victims. The Division is also assisting Tulane Law School SBA with preparations for an appreciation weekend for law schools and legal employers who hosted or hired displaced Tulane students. The Tulane SBA plans to invite law stu-

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

31

dents and law firm representatives from host institutions down to New Orleans for a weekend in January 2006 to participate in a variety of activities including a tour of the disaster areas, a panel discussion with legal community and government officials, a community service event and some social activities in the revitalized areas. The weekend is designed to thank the host institutions and to demonstrate the vitality of the New Orleans legal community in the wake of this disaster. Through our website, list serves and Student Lawyer magazine, the Division will continue to update the nation’s law students on the progress made in the New Orleans law school community, as well as report on the fundraising and community service efforts of the law students across the nation offering assistance to the disaster victims.

Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar Chair: Steven R. Smith The Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar provided a comprehensive coordination of efforts to assist the law schools affected by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Within the legal education community, the most serious direct effect was on the two New Orleans law schools: Loyola University-New Orleans and Tulane University. They were forced to abandon their campuses and suspend

32

classes as Katrina approached and still have not been able to re-occupy their facilities in New Orleans. The Section was also in contact with law schools in Baton Rouge and Mississippi with offers of assistance. The response of the legal education community to this disaster was rapid, pervasive and heartwarming. The Deans and Associate Deans List Serves maintained by the Section were the primary mode of communications for ABA approved law schools during the early phases of the catastrophe. The Section Office staff responded initially to telephone and e-mail inquiries from displaced students and their families with preliminary advice and provided links from our web-site to pages containing updated information and links to emergency web sites for students with offers of assistance. As soon as it was clear that the New Orleans schools would not be able to operate for the fall term, the deans’ list serve for deans from ABA approved law schools, was flooded with offers from law schools to admit Loyola and Tulane students as visitors for the fall term. The Section worked closely with Deans Larry Ponoroff of Tulane and Brian Bromberger of Loyola coordinating with the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), in order to create a web site maintained by AALS to collect in one place all the offers from the schools. Remarkably, that Web site was

up by Thursday, September 1, five days after Katrina hit land. Over 170 law schools have offered to take New Orleans students. The AALS is also maintaining a registry that collects information concerning the location and status of individual students from the two schools. Currently, we know that almost 1,000 law students, 634 from Tulane and 354 from Loyola, have been placed as visiting students for the fall term. Louisiana State University School of Law alone has taken about 160 students from the two schools. Both Loyola and Tulane have recently announced plans to resume classes at their New Orleans campuses in January 2006. Loyola began offering first year classes and some upper class courses in early October at the University of Houston and the Houston Law Center. The Council of the Section on Legal Education authorized its Executive Committee in September to consider and decide upon any variances from the requirements of the Standards that either Tulane or Loyola New Orleans may need that require action before the Council next meets on December 2-3, 2005.

Litigation Chair: Brad D. Brian Immediate Call for Help Within a few days of Hurricane Katrina, ABA President Michael S. Greco began enlisting lawyers from a number of Sections, including the Section

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

of Litigation, to provide hurricane victims with pro bono legal assistance through an ABA program that has existed since 1978. The Section of Litigation worked closely with the ABA to support this effort to assist hurricane victims. In the first week of September our Section Chair, Brad D. Brian sent an email to all Section members—more than 70,000 recipients—informing them that they could volunteer their services or make financial donations. Creation of Special Task Force Our Section Chair immediately appointed a special Section Task Force dedicated solely to finding ways our Section could use its unique talents and resources to bring the greatest possible help to the affected region ns and the individuals hardest hit by the disasters. For more than two months, this Task Force—chaired by former Section Chair Bob Clifford and spurred forward by its tireless Vice-Chairs, the Honorable Bernice Donald, and Jimmy Goodman—has worked hard to gather information about the hurricanes’ devastation and about the needs created by that devastation, and to recommend ways to meet those needs. Contribution of $130,000 to Legal Services Providers In considering how the Section of Litigation could best help the victims of the hurricanes, our Section Task Force

soon focused on the legal services needs in the communities most affected by the hurricane. Our focus was twofold (1) to make a financial contribution, and (2) to consider any additional resources the Section might be uniquely situated to provide. The Section of Litigation Council approved an expenditure of $130,000 out of the Section’s Reserves to be distributed to legal services providers, to assist in the provision of direct legal services to the clients of those agencies most heavily impacted by the hurricanes. The Section sought to engage other sections in this initiative and successfully found a partner In the Antitrust Section. By combining our two Sections’ efforts, a total of $230,000 will be given to legal services organizations in the hurricane-affected areas. A majority of this money will be allocated for additional staffing at Southeast Louisiana Services (in the New Orleans and surrounding areas) and Acadiana Legal Services (serving Lake Charles, Lafayette, and surrounding areas). Campaign for Additional Contributions to Legal Services Providers Now that the Sections of Litigation and Antitrust have chosen the legal services organizations to whom they will contribute, the Section of Litigation will be soliciting contributions from our 300+ leaders to provide additional funds for Southeast Louisiana

Legal Services and Acadiana Legal Services. Legal Services Advocacy Training Program The Section of Litigation annually holds 1-2 legal services advocacy training programs. These programs rotate around the country and provide an exceptional opportunity for legal services lawyers to get intensive, 2 day trial training at no cost. This year the Section has chosen to hold one of the programs in Jackson, Mississippi in May. We expect to attract 40-50 lawyers from legal services organizations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and to provide them, free of charge, with valuable training will help them to serve their clients.

Damage done to the Marine Life Aquarium in Gulfport, Miss., by Hurricane Katrina, which generated a wave so large that it washed out bottlenose dolphins into the Gulf of Mexico.Photo credit: NOAA.

State and Local Government Law Chair: Thomas E. Roberts The Section of State and Local Government Law has been intensively involved in emergency preparedness for many years and been active in aiding those affected by the disasters of September 2005. With a grant from the Public Entity Risk Institute and assistance from the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education, this past summer the Section released “Are You Ready? What Lawyers Need to Know about Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery,” a 70 minute video program to help communities and the lawyers who advise

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

33

South Plaquemines Parish, La., near Empire, Buras and Boothville where Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, Photo credit: NOAA.

them prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from catastrophic events. The video is accompanied by a 100-plus page softbound course book. The video is sold at cost for $25, and it has played to rave reviews. It has been presented before conferences in a number of states and before the Emergency Management Institute of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We have sent the video to all states with agencies that deal with either emergency preparedness or homeland security. At its October meeting, 2005 meeting, the SOC CLE Task Force presented the Section with its Innovative Program Award for this project. After Hurricane Katrina struck, we made available gratis on our website a 16 page “Checklist for State and Local Government Attorneys

34

to Prepare for Possible Disasters,” prepared by Ernest B. Abbott and Otto J. Hetzel, Chair and Vice- Chair respectively of our Homeland Security and Emergency Management Committee. This November (November 11), we published a book entitled Legal Issues in Homeland Security and Emergency Management: A Primer for State and Local Government. The book covers a wide array of issues that lawyers and others in public agencies face in handling emergency matters, before, during after. Council member and Chair of our Homeland Security and Emergency Management Committee, Ernest B. Abbott, was appointed by ABA President Mike Greco to serve on a Task Force that is developing and coordinating the Association’s response to the hurricane disasters. As former

General Counsel to FEMA, Mr. Abbott has been an invaluable aid to the Section and the Association in aiding lawyers in need.

Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Chair: Kevin L. Shepherd This report is the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law’s RPPTL’s response to your November 3, 2005 request to American Bar Association Section, Division and Forum Chairs to provide a short summary of their activities undertaken in response to Hurricane Katrina. Almost immediately after Hurricane Katrina, the Executive Committee of RPPTL focused the Section’s resources on creating a webpage to assist persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Leadership and members from both the Real Property

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

Division and Probate and Trust Division set out to locate materials and information for real property and probate and trust attorneys, law students and the public. RPPTL’s Hurricane Katrina Relief webpage was launched several days after the storm. We began with postings of emergency contact information, local contact information, governmental bulletins and data from, for example, the American Red Cross, FEMA, HUD, IRS, EPA and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. Our next step was to compile a “virtual office,” which includes practice forms, articles and information on a variety of real estate and probate law topics including leasing, insurance claims and adjusting, mold and mildew, law practice, management, casualty losses, construction law, taxation, financing, guardianship and probate. Members of the Probate and Trust Division compiled materials related to charitable giving, the federal Katrina Tax Reform Act and IRS pronouncements affecting victims of Hurricane Katrina. We called on the expertise of the Real Estate Division’s Committees on Taxation, Environmental Law, Construction Law, Leasing and Insurance. We also gathered information articles and bulletins from various real estate and trade groups, like the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the American College of Real Estate Lawyer

and the American Land Title Association. We also secured access to several hundred articles from the electronic library of a prominent author of articles in real estate law; various state CLE articles, articles and advice of consultants and hundreds of articles of the Risk Management Institute and of experts in real estate law. Additionally, we linked directly to the consumer question and answer page of the ABA Taxation Section for individual taxpayers affected by Hurricane Katrina, and we secured the right to post materials from the Research Institute and America’s RIA Tax Service. Finally, we used the Section’s resources to compile and post materials regarding guardianship and related issues. The result of RPPTL’s efforts was to create easy access to a wealth of legal and practical information that we believe is essential to real estate and probate practitioners whose lives and livelihoods had been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. The RPPTL Standing Committee on Communications is undertaking a strategy to ensure that the Section’s Hurricane Katrina Relief web page is updated and revised periodically and the resources afforded by the RPPTL Hurricane Katrina Relief webpage become a permanent feature of the RPPTL official webpage readily available to victims both of Hurricane Katrina and of other disasters. Additional RPPTL activities

after Hurricane Katrina have included assisting ABA staff’s efforts to manage requests for, and offers of, office space for displaced practitioners and hosting a program at the RPPTL Fall Leadership meeting which Section members shared their thoughts about the rebuilding of New Orleans. Finally, RPPTL is represented on, and through its representative active participant in, the ABA Presidential Task Force on Hurricane Katrina.

Taxation Chair: Dennis Drapkin On September 6, 2005, the chair of the ABA Section of Taxation, Dennis Drapkin, called a meeting of staff and volunteers to determine how the Section could best assist those who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. As a result of that discussion, he formed a Katrina Task Force, of Section members, to identify tax-related issues that might arise in the aftermath of the disaster, and determine how best to address those issues, utilizing the strengths and talents of the Section. The Task Force immediately began soliciting ideas from its membership including those located in the affected Gulf region, about which tax issues the Section could assist in addressing with policy makers, in an effort to provide some relief to those affected. At the Section’s Joint Fall Meeting with the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section, both Sections’ Katrina Task Forces

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

35

met to coordinate efforts and invite comment from each Section’s membership. The Section Task Force immediately reviewed IRS guidance on relevant issues with the following results: 1) The Section provided the IRS and Treasury with its first set of comments, focusing on tax issues related to Katrinarelated exempt organizations. 2) Comments on extension of certain deadlines were drafted then made obsolete by appropriate IRS Notice. 3) Comments on casualty and net operating losses were drafted, and then made obsolete by a change in law 4) Comments on compensation and benefit tax compliance matters were sent the IRS and Treasury. In addition, the Section entered into a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ with the IRS, providing support to their efforts as they regard hurricane relief. The Section is also working with the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service to publicize free telephone training for tax lawyers, focusing on new Katrina-related regulations and encouraging lawyers to provide assistance through their local low income tax clinics. The Task Force also focused on legislation promulgated by Members of Congress, with an eye toward providing assistance and/or comment when necessary. Several members met with Representative Jim McCrery (DLA), discuss issues on which the Section may be helpful.

36

Section Activities Related to Katrina It was determined that the Section’s Midyear Meeting, scheduled for Orleans, would have to be rescheduled to another location. The meeting is now set for San Diego, and the Section will be contributing $25.00 per registrant to one or more of the charities assisting hurricane victims. That amount is expected to total at least $25,000. The Section is putting together a video news release on end-of-year charitable giving, including what consumers need to know about claiming deductions for Katrina-related giving. The Section is planning an audio news release for early 2006, cautioning consumers about scams involving tax preparers over-promising relief for taxpayers affected by Katrina. The Section is providing taxrelated information on its Katrina web site, located by a hyperlink from the Section homepage. That information is geared toward hurricane victims, those interested in donating to charities, and tax practitioners. The Section is also providing this information to the ABA webmaster, who is including it on the ABA Katrina page.

Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Chair: Sandra R. McCandless TIPS has initiated several efforts in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. They are as follows: An Insurance Task Force on

Disaster Relief was formed. This task force includes experts in alI relevant insurance areas. Besides TIPS members, a representative from the Litigation Section sits on the task force. The Regulatory Issues Subcommittee of the task force wrote a letter to insurance commissioners in the affected states offering assistance in the areas of: policyholder rights, insurance company regulation and public policy consideration, since insurance is one of the Section’s primary areas of expertise. The Mediation Arbitration Subcommittee of the task force is developing standards for mediation and arbitration. So far, there is a written description on the National Arbitration Forum’s web site which offers NAF’s assistance for disaster mediation insurance solutions. The task force is exploring whether to establish a TIPS role in assisting voluntary mediation to resolve insurance coverage disputes. The third subcommittee of the task force is charged with developing a “White Paper’” to identify insurance issues and answers. At this time, a long list of emergency contacts and phone numbers has been generated and is being used by the National Red Cross. A teleconference entitled “Katrina through Beta: Insurance Issues in the Wake of the Storm” will be held December 1st. The teleconference is free to the first 200 attendees and is only $25 per

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

person after that. Within one day after the initial notice of the teleconference, 160 people had registered. A committee is being established to address FAQs regarding insurance issues in disaster relief times. This will become a brochure for consumers. The Section is issuing a House of Delegates Resolution at the 2006 Midyear Meeting in February supporting the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (H.R. 3858). This legislation would require local and state emergency preparedness authorities to include pets and service animals in their disaster evacuation plans in order to qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A live CLE program is planned for the Spring addressing disaster insurance concerns. This program is spearheaded by TIPS’ Property Insurance Committee, Insurance Coverage Committee and the Solo and Small Firm Committee. A CLE program is planned for the Annual Meeting entitled, “The Perfect Storm Preparing for the Unimaginable and Picking Up the Pieces”, a program focusing on legal issues arising in the aftermath of disasters. A live program is being planned for citizens of the affected areas. The program is in the beginning planning stage, but will most likely be held in Louisiana. The morning session will be a panel

presenting insurance information and the afternoon will be set up in a country fair format where people can ask specific insurance questions regarding their individual concerns. FEMA training will most likely be sought for the program leaders. On the TIPS web site, a blog was set up to provide information and resources about relief efforts and to receive comments from those in the affected areas on their whereabouts. Also, on the TIPS web site, a housing database was established for those looking to obtain or share housing or office space. TIPS is continually developing projects to aid in the hurricane relief efforts.

Young Lawyers Division Chair: Christina Plum On September 1, 2005, hotlines were established in Mississippi and Louisiana, and volunteer young lawyers began meeting with victims in FEMA Disaster Relief Centers within the affected areas. Within two days, Alabama established a hotline and initiated visitations as did Texas once FEMA designated that they were a disaster area because of the number of Katrina evacuees they received. State Bar Associations within the affected areas have been instrumental in housing and managing the hotlines, and local young lawyers have refocused their daily personal and professional lives to meet the increasing demands

imposed by the breadth of this disaster and its effects on the lives of its victims. The following is current statistical information relevant to the YLD/FEMA disaster legal assistance efforts in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: MISSISSIPPI As of 11/01 4,000 disaster victims have been assisted. Of this number 1,895 were from calls to the toll-free disaster legal assistance hotline. The remaining were generated from the Disaster Legal Relief Centers. I TEXAS As of 10/14, there have been 2,397 contacts made with victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I LOUISIANA As of 10/12, there have been 4,200 contacts made with victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I ALABAMA As of 10/18, there have been 45 contacts made with victims of Hurricane Katrina. I

Additionally and apart from the YLD’s FEMA contract, The YLD FEMA Chair Rani Mathura serves on Mike Greco’s presidential task force dealing with the ABA’s disaster response and the YLD staff director Ann Fiegen serves on the ABA staff working group and is one of 2 ABA staff members charged with cataloging ABA’s wide disaster relief efforts and ultimately developing a disaster response plan for the ABA. I

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

37

HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS REPORT OF FUND FOR JUSTICE AND EDUCATION

Flood depth estimation map for Louisiana as of Sept. 3, 2005. Photo credit: NOAA.

Summary of Contributions and Fundraising Activities by ABA Entities The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina inspired people around the country generously to contribute their time and resources to help those in need. The American Bar Association and its members joined the relief effort in a number of different ways to provide assistance to individuals in the devastated areas. In addition to providing substantive legal assistance, ABA entities made financial contributions to relief efforts and encouraged their members to do the same. This memorandum summarizes the contributions and fundraising activities by ABA entities for hurricane relief efforts. I. ASSOCIATIONWIDE EFFORTS ABA Website. Within days of Hurricane

38

Katrina, the American Bar Association posted a website with information and resources for those in the affected areas. The website included information on where individuals could volunteer to provide legal assistance and guidance on how individuals could most effectively help the victims of the Hurricane. In addition, the website provided information on making donations to Hurricane relief efforts. Initially, the website listed and provided links to three national organizations that were collecting donations for Hurricane relief efforts: the American Red Cross, America’s Second Harvest and the Salvation Army. The website also provided information and links to the Louisiana State Bar Association Relief Fund and the Mississippi Bar Foundation.

Within a few weeks, the ABA included additional organizations on the website. Recognizing that there were many ways members could contribute to relief efforts, the ABA included on the website organizations and agencies the Association recommended to help the legal profession. These organizations and agencies included legal services and pro bono programs in the states affected by Hurricane Katrina. Many of these agencies and organizations suffered extensive damage themselves, and the website noted that donations to these organizations would help them recover and serve their clients in need. The website listed a number of legal services and pro bono programs in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, including the Southeast Louisiana Legal

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

Services Corporation, the Mississippi Center for Legal Services and Legal Services Alabama, Inc. Association Policy on Contributions. ABA policy, adopted in 1975, states that it is generally not appropriate for the Association, or any of its entities, to contribute funds to other organizations. However, given the magnitude of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, several ABA sections made requests to donate section funds to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. In this emergency circumstance, the Executive Committee concurred that ABA entities should be able to contribute to relief efforts, with the understanding that general revenue would not be used. This decision enabled ABA entities to explore opportunities to make financial contributions for relief efforts and to coordinate fundraising activities among their members. II. SECTION, DIVISION AND FORUM EFFORTS Many ABA entities developed valuable initiatives to provide information and legal assistance to those in the affected areas. In addition to substantive programs and resources, a number of ABA sections, divisions and forums made financial contributions to relief efforts or encouraged their members

to contribute. Summarized below are fundraising efforts and contributions made by ABA sections, divisions and forums. Antitrust Law Section. The Section of Antitrust Law committed over $100,000 in contributions and provided additional resources via inkind services to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. This effort included a joint project with the Section of Litigation to provide $230,000 to fund several legal services organizations in the Hurricane affected areas. The majority of this money will be allocated for additional staffing at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (in the New Orleans and surrounding area) and Acadiana Legal Services (serving Lake Charles, Lafayette, and surrounding areas). In addition, the Antitrust Section underwrote a special project for Houston PBS coordinated by the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center. The television program aired October 3, 2005, and provided legal counseling for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Business Law Section. The Business Law Section committed financial support to the New Orleans Bar Association to assist in the rebuilding of the legal system in Southeast Louisiana. The

Section made an immediate contribution of $10,000. The Section also committed an additional $100,000 in project support as needs become clear. Criminal Justice Section. Immediately following the Hurricane, the Criminal Justice Section sent an email message to its general membership calling upon members to contribute to relief efforts. The message contained a pledge of $1,000 in honor of the Criminal Justice Section from the Section Chair. The pledge was met when the Chair made a $1,000 contribution to the Fraternal Order of the Police Disaster Relief Fund to assist police officers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama displaced by the Hurricane. Forum on the Construction Industry. The Forum on the Construction Industry is considering several options to assist with Hurricane relief. These options include making donations to the New Orleans Pro Bono Project and Louisiana pro bono legal services offices. In addition, the Forum is considering donating books and other Forum publications to law libraries, law schools or public service agencies. Justice Center. The Justice Center is coordinating the delivery of donated supplies and computer

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA

39

equipment to three counties in Mississippi that were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Justice Center will continue to seek donations and facilitate the delivery of office supplies and computer equipment to the devastated courts in the Gulf Coast Region. Labor and Employment Law Section. The Labor and Employment Law Section made a donation of $10,000 to the American Red Cross for relief efforts in the early days of the crisis. In addition, the Section is planning to implement a fundraising effort aimed at support for the provision of information and reading materials through the New Orleans Public Library system and the Louisiana library system. The Section plans to undertake a fundraising effort among its members with a goal of raising a minimum of $100,000, and the Section will donate an initial $25,000 from Section funds to this initiative. Law Student Division. In the aftermath of the Hurricane, law students from around the country contacted the Division offering contributions and other assistance for disaster victims. The Division put its Student Bar Association list serve and website to work requesting and sharing fundraising ideas and activities from the nation’s law schools. To

40

date, 77 law schools have reported to the Division fundraising activities which have generated over $302,000 for various relief agencies. In addition, students from the University of Missouri School of Law secured a donation of 11 laptop computers and, using the Division’s list serve, collected the necessary information to distribute computers to students in need. Litigation Section. In the first week of September, the Section Chair sent an email to all Section members—more than 70,000 recipients—informing them how they could volunteer their services or make financial donations to relief efforts. The Section also evaluated how it could best help the victims of the Hurricane, and the Section Task Force focused on the legal services needs in the communities most affected. The Section Council approved an expenditure of $130,000 out of the Section’s Reserves to be distributed to legal services providers, to assist in the provision of direct legal services to the clients of those agencies most heavily impacted by the Hurricane. By partnering with the Antitrust Law Section, a total of $230,000 will be given to legal services organizations in the Hurricane-affected areas. The majority of this money

will be allocated for additional staffing at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (in the New Orleans and surrounding areas) and Acadiana Legal Services (serving Lake Charles, Lafayette, and surrounding areas). The Section of Litigation also will solicit contributions from over 300 of its leaders to provide additional funds for these two legal services organizations. Taxation Section. After the Hurricane, the Taxation Section determined that the Section’s Midyear Meeting, scheduled for New Orleans, would have to be rescheduled to another location. As a result, the meeting now will be held in San Diego, and the Section will be contributing $25.00 per registrant to one or more of the charities assisting Hurricane victims. That amount is expected to total at least $25,000. All ABA sections, divisions, forums and entities are contributing in their own way to Hurricane relief efforts. While this memorandum summarizes only contributions and fundraising activities, many ABA entities are conducting critical substantive programs for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Whether through donations, substantive programs or both, ABA entities and members are responding to the needs of those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. I

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM: THE ABA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE KATRINA