Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 78, No. 10, October
2005
The Twin Sisters of Death
Hurricane Katrina caused widespread
devastation along the Louisiana gulf
coast. Then came Hurricane Rita, bearing down on Texas and afflicting
already devastated areas and their citizens as well. Wisconsin-licensed
lawyers caught in the storms and hundreds of evacuees need our
assistance.
by
State Bar executive director
After the winds from Hurricane Katrina finally subsided, the tide
receded, and the levees broke, more than 20 State Bar of Wisconsin
members lost much of what they had built in New Orleans or on the gulf
coast. Files were ruined, exhibits lost, and computers destroyed.
Of the 41 Wisconsin-licensed lawyers in Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana, 29 work in zones where the U.S. Post Office has cancelled
deliveries. State Bar President Mike Guerin and Nonresident Lawyers
Division President Joel Hirschhorn, who had experienced the early
version of Katrina as it swept through Miami, communicated support to
our Wisconsin colleagues in the ravaged areas. The letters were sent by
email and regular post in the hope that one would get through
eventually.
Several email responses arrived, including one from the executive
vice president of the New Orleans Saints from their temporary offices in
San Antonio, Texas, expressing thanks and optimism for a reborn New
Orleans. Another lawyer in Biloxi, Miss., whose home and office received
heavy damage but are operational, described her experiences and those of
her colleagues and neighbors, detailing the sharing of communal meals to
use food from freezers before it spoiled, lawyers doubling up in some
offices while other offices dried out, and the damage to the courthouse
and the disruption of the state's judicial system.
In addition to reaching out to our own members, the State Bar is
working with organizations throughout Wisconsin to help hurricane
evacuees put their lives back together. State Bar Pro Bono Coordinator
Jeff Brown is leading this effort. He is working with the American Bar
Association, the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, and
the Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center to establish a single point of
contact at the State Bar for coordinating pro bono legal services for
evacuees coming to our state. He is working with local bar associations,
including the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, to aid evacuees housed
at the State Fair Park fairgrounds in Milwaukee. In addition, he is
providing referrals to pro bono attorneys for evacuees with legal
issues, such as the couple who evacuated to a relative's home in
Wisconsin after losing their home and their jobs in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina and were wondering if their only recourse was
bankruptcy.
At press time, Hurricane Rita has blown itself out, but people in
Rita's path may need our help, too, even as Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana are just beginning long-term recovery efforts. When people
from these areas no longer need to worry about food and shelter, the
long-term legal issues will become more apparent. Already we know the
physical infrastructure of the judicial system in New Orleans is in
ruins. But the justice system survives. And for those evacuees in
Wisconsin, many will need help.
To encourage pro bono volunteers, the State Bar of Wisconsin provides
first dollar malpractice coverage for attorneys who accept pro bono
cases through the State Bar. In addition, Lexis-Nexis just renewed its
grant to the State Bar to provide free research for volunteer
attorneys.
To help, contact Jeff Brown at the State Bar Center, (800) 728-7788,
ext. 6177, jbrown@wisbar.org, or
read the information on WisBar at www.wisbar.org/probono.
Wisconsin
Lawyer