Young Lawyers Division 2000-2001

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1999

Young Lawyer Efforts Help Hundreds

by Kathy Eftimoff

For many years now, the ABA YLD has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster legal relief efforts nationwide. Hardly a year goes by when a flood, tornado, hurricane, or earthquake somewhere in the United States doesn't bring the YLD into action to address legal needs in the aftermath of a disaster. This year is no exception. A series of hurricanes battered the east coast of the United States this fall, with the most recent, hurricane Floyd, causing enormous flooding and damage in Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia, and up the coast. Exceptionally hard hit was eastern North Carolina, which is still recovering from the devastation of hurricane Floyd-a storm that North Carolina Governor James Hunt calls the largest disaster to ever strike the state. The ABA YLD, working with FEMA and the North Carolina Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (NCBA/YLD), was there to help hundreds of residents deal with legal issues resulting from the storm.

According to John Austin, ABA YLD district representative for North Carolina and a division director of the NCBA/YLD, FEMA decides whether to get the ABA YLD involved in its relief efforts on a case-by-case basis. If FEMA decides YLD help is needed, it contacts the chair of the YLD Disaster Legal Services Committee, Dan Wittenberg, who then works with the district representatives and state and local YLD leaders in the affected area to mobilize the volunteer effort. Austin notes that the North Carolina Bar can and does sometimes get involved even before FEMA does. The NCBA/YLD has its own disaster relief manual, which is continually being updated.

Typically, from the time FEMA puts out the call for help, the young lawyer relief effort can be up and running within a day or two. Austin says North Carolina was geared up for hurricane season early this year. Even before hurricane Dennis struck (a few weeks before Floyd), the NCBA started publicizing its toll-free Disaster Legal Services number. People in need of legal assistance can call the 800-number (staffed by the NCBA) between 8:30 a.m and 5:30 p.m, and an attorney will usually call them back within forty-eight hours.

In the case of hurricane Floyd, Jeff Cherry, chair of the NCBA/YLD Disaster Legal Services Committee and an attorney with Hunton & Williams, coordinated the distribution of calls to over fifty volunteers around the state. Austin estimates that over 300 calls have been received to date and says that they are still getting upwards of fifteen calls per day. He expects the calls to continue for well over a year, as the legal issues associated with a storm often don't arise until after the floodwaters have subsided. In this case in particular, vast agricultural concerns, industries, and entire towns were flooded by Floyd. Not only is the economic damage unfathomable, the environmental damage could be catastrophic and could take years to remedy.

Calls to the hotline commonly involve insurance coverage, landlord/tenant disputes, employment matters, and so forth. Often, a simple phone call or a little hand-holding is all that is needed to solve the problem. Austin related the story of a nurse who had been fired from her job at a convalescent home for not showing up and for not calling in. It turned out that she couldn't get to work because the roads around her home were flooded and she couldn't call to let her employer know because the phone lines were down. In that case, resolving her employment problems was a fairly straightforward effort that required gathering proof of the facts (through testimonials of neighbors and phone company employees). Other times, unfortunately, a resolution is not so simple. If a matter cannot be addressed by simple phone calls or letters, but requires a court appearance or litigation, it is routinely referred to Legal Services of North Carolina (if the party qualifies).

On October 2, 1999, twelve North Carolina young lawyers visited five FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers to provide additional, in-person assistance. The Disaster Recovery Centers, which are staffed by various state and federal agencies, provide victims with "one-stop" shopping and information on the various services available to them. Austin could not emphasize enough how well the ABA YLD and NCBA/YLD worked together to help the victims of hurricane Floyd in North Carolina. He also expressed gratitude to WestGroup, which has donated free Westlaw service for three months to approximately fifteen attorneys whose offices were totally devastated by the flooding in Tarboro, Rocky Mount, and the surrounding areas.

Similar efforts have been ongoing, to a lesser extent, in other states affected by the recent storms. In Virginia, for example, severe flooding in the wake of hurricanes Dennis and Floyd caused President Clinton to declare the Virginia Tidewater area a "National Disaster." Young lawyers in Virginia sprang into action. Steve Otero, chair of the Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Legal Assistance Committee, and Shawn Copeland, Disaster Legal Services Committee chair for the Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Committee, have been coordinating volunteers to staff the FEMA Disaster Relief Centers in that state.

Even today, young lawyers in Virginia are still counseling residents affected by the disaster at three Disaster Relief Centers operating in the Tidewater area and through a toll-free number. Hundreds of Virginia residents were displaced by the flooding and, according to Brian Zemil, ABA YLD district representative for Virginia, over eighty calls have been placed to the 800-number since it began operation.

ABA YLD district representatives undergo FEMA training as part of their orientation and are equipped to help organize similar relief efforts in their states. For more information, contact Dan Wittenberg, chair of the YLD Disaster Legal Services Committee, at 415/986Ð5900, or e-mail dwittenberg@gordonrees.com.