Georgia Online Justice Community
Volume XVI, Issue III
September 2002
PREPARING FOR DISASTER - Providing Legal Triage
by Adam Torm, WYLD Trustee, Pierce District
Last year's Nisqually Earthquake that rocked Western Washington is becoming a distant memory for some and most De Novo readers probably can't remember the large-scale floods that covered major portions of our state in 1996-97, let alone the fires that devastated the Spokane area over a decade ago. So far in 2002, Washington has been spared any major trauma. How long will it be before another disaster, natural or manmade, jumps onto our local headlines and puts our loved ones and our property at risk again? Nobody knows, but as lawyers, we can all be better prepared to help out whenever that next catastrophe comes around the bend.
As you might guess, the services of lawyers are in very high demand in the aftermath of nearly every natural disaster. People with damaged homes have questions about their insurance policies. Landlords and tenants want to know their rights when their properties become uninhabitable due to failures in water and gas lines. And sadly, scam artists prey on disaster victims who then seek out consumer protection advice in attempts to escape from unconscionable contract provisions.
As you will read, your Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) is gearing up now for the next earthquake, flood, or whatever might occur. We're recruiting volunteer attorneys who want to volunteer some of their valuable time to assist others in their time of desperate need. In conjunction with the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we'll provide the training and help coordinate volunteer disaster legal assistance services. Would you be willing to listen to stories like these and help guide people toward solutions? If so, your assistance with this project is needed now and, in the event of a future calamity, will be even more greatly appreciated. This article explains how FEMA's Disaster Legal Services program works and what you can do to make a difference.
FEMA, the ABA , and Disaster Legal Services
Pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief Act (42 USC 5141, et seq.), whenever the President of the United States declares a "major disaster" anywhere in the United States or its territories, federal assistance is made available to supplement the efforts and resources of state and local governments and voluntary relief organizations. The Stafford Act specifically addresses the provision of free legal services to low-income individuals affected by a disaster (see 42 USC 5182). FEMA is responsible for implementation of the Stafford Act and, to do so, has adopted a variety of rules and regulations. Among those is a specific regulation governing the provision of Disaster Legal Services (DLS): 44 CFR 206.164.
Whenever the President declares a major disaster, the DLS program can be activated. In an attempt to implement the legal services mandate of the Stafford Act, FEMA's Office of Disaster Assistance Programs entered into an Agreement with the ABA and its Young Lawyers Division (ABA/YLD) for the ABA and its nationwide affiliates to provide volunteer lawyers to the DLS program. According to this Agreement, after a disaster is declared, FEMA contacts the ABA/YLD Representative for that region. It is then the ABA/YLD Representative's job to ensure that legal assistance services are provided, either on-site at the disaster location, through a Disaster Recovery Center, or via a 1-800 telephone bank where callers' concerns are either addressed immediately or referred to a volunteer attorney. This is where you come in!
As a Young Lawyer, What Can You Do?
The WYLD is now taking steps to create a statewide network that can quickly be called into action to provide legal assistance in the event of a future disaster. We want to work with local leaders to identify volunteer attorneys who would be willing to serve in such instances. Residents affected by a disaster find themselves with a variety of confusing legal questions, including:
¥ Assistance with insurance claims
¥ Counseling on landlord-tenant and other housing problems
¥ Assistance with home repair contracts
¥ Consumer protection matters
¥ Mortgage foreclosure problems
¥ Replacement of wills and other important legal documents
¥ Drafting powers of attorney
Although you might not personally practice in these areas, you will have a chance to prove your leadership ability in a time of crisis! Your law school education has certainly prepared you to recognize the potential issues facing disaster victims. Further, your experience with your own clients will help you to easily understand the stresses these victims are under and their need for compassionate advice and guidance as they get back on their feet.
We are asking that each of you stop and consider what would happen if a disaster befell your county, city or town. Does your local bar association have a plan in place for responding to the new legal services needs that are certain to arise? If so, please share it with us! If not, we invite you to volunteer your time and efforts assisting others in a time of special need. Although volunteer attorneys are generally prohibited from accepting fee-generating cases that might be presented during the course of their FEMA service, there are many other rewards that come from assisting after a disaster. Please consider serving as a volunteer.
What Are Volunteer FEMA Attorneys Expected to Do?
The main job for volunteers is to be ready and willing to provide legal assistance following a disaster that occurs in your region or local area. Within a few days of any catastrophic event, we will know if the President of the United States will declare the event a major disaster. If so, FEMA will then determine whether or not to offer victims its Disaster Legal Services. When that occurs, volunteers are contacted and instructed on where and when to report. Volunteers can assist with screening incoming calls to a Disaster Legal Services hotline and/or actually accept pro bono referrals generated from that hotline.
Staffing the Disaster Legal Services Hotline
Typically, a DLS hotline becomes operational a few weeks after a major disaster is declared. This gives the disaster victims time to attend to more pressing matters, such as obtaining shelter and food and addressing their immediate losses and needs. After a short while, however, disaster victims begin to recognize that they need legal help putting their lives back in order. The DLS hotline number will be advertised in the local area's newspapers, posted in shelters, and generally available from all governmental agencies responding to the disaster. Calls will start rolling in about 2-3 weeks after the disaster first strikes and usually involve on one or more of the areas listed above.
In the past, we have installed a toll-free telephone hotline at the WSBA offices in Seattle and taken incoming calls there, regardless of where the disaster has actually occurred. Volunteers staffing the hotline simply do what lawyers do best: issue spotting. Volunteers identify the legal issues buried in the scenarios presented by each caller, obtain the caller's contact information, and, if possible, refer the caller to an appropriate agency providing assistance in the wake of the disaster (i.e. shelters, food banks, government claims processing units, etc.).
Accepting Pro Bono Referrals
After hanging up the telephone, the hotline staff reviews the list of available volunteer attorneys in the area of the disaster and attempts to secure a referral for the caller. For future disasters, we hope to have the hotline staffed directly in the local area where the disaster occurs, eliminating the step of having someone in Seattle identify a local volunteer attorney in Yakima or Walla Walla willing to accept a pro bono referral. As a volunteer, you would be eligible to accept these pro bono cases and, in limited circumstances, fee-generating cases as well.
Obviously, this sort of need is not readily predictable, perhaps making it difficult you to make an advance commitment to this program. Remember, however, that your time commitment will probably consist of no more than a few hours. Of course, if you're willing, you could certainly commit more time or decide to become more involved with any individual case that presents itself.
Training for Volunteers
As you and other leaders around the state sign up to provide legal assistance if disaster should strike, the WYLD is developing plans to provide training for all volunteer attorneys. We are currently planning for two statewide training sessions to be held in either late 2002 or early 2003, one in Western Washington and one in Eastern Washington , with very discounted or even free CLE credits offered to all committed FEMA volunteer attorneys in attendance. Of course, due to the unpredictability inherent in this project, additional training sessions will probably occur shortly after a disaster occurs and focus on the specific legal issues most likely to be presented by that disaster's victims. However, for those recurring issues that seem to present themselves after every disaster, training materials are being prepared in advance and will be presented at the statewide sessions. We hope to videotape the statewide sessions and make copies of the tapes available to local bar associations for further dissemination. If you have a special expertise and would be willing to be part of this training program, please let me know.
Recruiting Volunteers Now Ensures Preparedness Later
Over the last two decades, this arrangement between FEMA, the ABA/YLD, and local bar associations has proven successful. Most recently, the program provided disaster legal relief to victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In Washington , the program was activated in response to last year's earthquake as well as to the floods of 1996 and 1997. For more information about the program's success stories and to find resources, please visit the ABA 's Web site at www.abanet.org/ and www.abanet.org/barserv/disaster. You'll soon be able to find additional links about this important program on www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/wyld/.
With any luck, none of us will be faced with a major disaster any time soon. Although these occurrences are always unexpected, your willingness to volunteer now will ensure that we are all better prepared whenever the need arises. Thank you in advance for your commitment to this important project!