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The Legal Community Responds
2008 Midwest Flood Disaster Relief Fund Established
Make a donation to this fund.
Article from the Cedar Rapids area gazetteonline.com
New Orleans attorneys encourage local colleagues . . .
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Information
Acadiana Legal Service Corporation, Baton Rouge Bar Foundation, Capital Area Legal Services Corporation, Louisiana Civil Justice Center, Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, Southwest Louisiana Legal Services and The Pro Bono Project all received a grant in the amount of $39,100.
These agencies provide legal services to displaced hurricane victims throughout the state of Louisiana. The funds are used for salaries and benefits for staff attorney, paralegal or coordinator positions that are directly providing legal services or facilitating the provision of legal services to affected persons.
LBF awarded the Louisiana Civil Justice Center a grant for marketing initiatives to promote awareness of its Call Center which provides legal information, advice and/or assistance to hurricane victims. The Call Center is staffed by attorneys, law students and support staff. To date, more than 14,000 calls have been handled.
Call Center volunteers can be reached by calling 1.800.310.7029 Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.
To volunteer for the call center go to http://www.lsba.org/home1/pdfvolunteer.pdf
Grants of $500 each provided immediate relief to assist attorneys who lost their offices or homes in the storms. Grants continue to be awarded as funding is available.
The business centers provide displaced attorneys with access to computers, internet, copiers, phones and fax machines. Two business centers are located in Orleans Parish and one is in St. Bernard Parish.
The LBF is hosting two AmeriCorps attorneys. These attorneys collaborate with community legal aid providers and law schools to develop quality pro bono opportunities and programs; recruit and train law students to volunteer with pro bono projects; and provide ongoing management and coordination of those pro bono projects and volunteers.
View Foundation staff.
View law student volunteer opportunities.
The LBF provided funding to re-employ public service attorneys. One attorney will be hired to pursue systemic litigation to enforce criminal defendants’ right to counsel in hurricane-affected areas and two Orleans Parish indigent defense attorneys were re-employed.
A grant of $50,000 was awarded to the Orleans Indigent Defender Board for the implementation of its case management system including equipment, technology and IT support.
Twenty grants of $1,000 each were awarded to help attorneys replace office furniture lost in the storms.
A grad student will be hired to gather, collect and analyze data retrieved from Call Center requests and other legal agencies providing disaster related services. Once analyzed, a report will be developed that discusses the legal issues faced by Louisiana displaced citizens. This information can be used to help our state address systemic legal issues.
This seminar provided attorneys with the technology tools and resources to help revitalize their practice.
Many Louisiana domestic violence centers were impacted by an increase in residents after the storm. Through the Secret Santa program grants were made to help with holiday expenses such as toys, clothes and food for the families.
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