From a message sent this afternoon by New York State Bar Association President Seymour James, Jr.:
Throughout
the affected areas, we anticipate a great need for assistance with legal issues
related to FEMA applications, insurance, real estate matters, and other general
legal matters, such as replacing missing wills and other documents. The State
Bar is developing a training session for attorneys on disaster relief issues
that will be webcast and archived for later viewing, in hopes that this
resource will assist attorneys and local bar associations in their efforts to
assist affected individuals. I strongly encourage all of our members to
consider taking advantage of this training, to become better equipped to
provide pro bono services to people in need of assistance in the wake of the
storm. We will provide an update and additional details about the training
as soon as they are finalized.
In addition,
the NYSBA Lawyer Referral and Information Service has created a dedicated
number (1-800-699-5636) for people in need of help, and is currently recruiting
attorneys to provide free telephone consultations to individuals affected by
the storm. There is a particular need for attorneys with insurance,
landlord/tenant, co-op and condo, or FEMA appeals experience, as well as those
who can handle general practice matters. If you are able to help, please
visit www.nysba.org/DisasterVolunteerSandy and
complete a volunteer form.
We are also
providing a free non-accredited informational video on emergency preparedness
strategies for attorneys. The program – Disaster Planning and Emergency
Preparedness: Best Practices for Solos – was designed to help attorneys prepare
for unforeseen crises that can jeopardize their practices and includes helpful
information and steps to take following a disaster. The video will be
available, free of charge, through the month of November. You can view it
at: www.nysba.org/DisasterPlanningProgram.
This is very interesting. Back about 12 years ago when North Carolina was socked very hard by a series of storms that brought worse flooding than most hurricanes that strike us, the NC Bar Ass'n decided to get a large contingent of lawyers to provide volunteer help to those struck by the storms in our coastal area. The University of North Carolina Law School undertook providing training for the lawyers. It cut across specialties. I, for example, gave the basic black letter law on claiming casualty loss deductions along with strategizing for such losses. On the same panel, my colleague, Don Hornstein addressed insurance issues. A great number of topics were covered. I do not know what you intend to do in NY Bridgett but it may be worth seeing if some schools can cooperate with the bar in a similar venture.