Southwestern Law School, Red Cross and L.A. Pro Bono Council Create Emergency Legal Clinic for Katrina Evacuees
In an unprecedented partnership,
Southwestern Law School has teamed with the American Red Cross
and the Los Angeles Pro Bono Council to create an Emergency Legal
Clinic for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. More than 1,000 families
have relocated to Los Angeles in the wake of the storm (with thousands
more expected), and many, if not all, are in desperate need of
legal assistance as they rebuild their lives.
Evacuees face numerous legal issues as they seek to collect assistance
from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); secure housing,
education and
employment; and handle insurance, immigration, social security, family and
medical matters. "Hurricane Katrina is the largest domestic disaster
relief operation the Red Cross has ever undertaken," said Roger Dickson,
CEO of the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. "The full number
of victims is not yet known, but they will need every kind of assistance to
recover, and this project to provide pro bono legal aid to those who have voluntarily
relocated to the Los Angeles area will be absolutely invaluable."
An Emergency Legal Clinic at the Red Cross facility on Rampart and Seventh,
just two blocks from Southwestern’s campus, will help them address these
urgent legal concerns. "The Southwestern Law School community has an
extraordinary, once-in-a generation opportunity to play a major role in helping
the victims of Hurricane Katrina," said Dean Bryant Garth.
The Clinic will be staffed by Southwestern students as well as students from
other law schools who are joining the Southwestern effort, under the supervision
of faculty and volunteers from the Los Angeles Pro Bono Council – an
umbrella group of nonprofit legal service providers and law firm pro bono programs.
Working together at the Clinic, these groups will provide "first-line" legal
assistance to evacuees, as well as long-term aid for those evacuees who require
sustained legal attention.
"This cooperative effort of law students, public interest organizations
and the private bar will result in justice and hope for hundreds of our new neighbors
who have nowhere else to turn," said Dan Grunfeld, President and CEO of
Public Counsel on behalf of the Council.
Representatives of the Council will lead training sessions for the volunteer
law students and attorneys on Wednesday, September 21 at Southwestern. Additional
training sessions will be offered at the campus and other venues. Volunteers
will begin to provide services at the Clinic in the Red Cross facilities on
Friday, September 23. About 220 volunteers, half of whom are from the Southwestern
community, are expected to participate.
"With Southwestern so close to the Red Cross facility, it’s wonderful
that the law school is playing a major role in providing these essential services
to the victims of this tragedy," said Ed Anderson, Chief Programs and Services
Officer for the Red Cross’ San Gabriel Valley chapter. Anderson, who recently
began his first semester at Southwestern as an evening student, helped spearhead
the effort to form the Clinic. Alison Kleaver and Linda Bradlyn, co-presidents
of the law student Public Interest Law Committee also worked with Dean Garth
to mobilize the Southwestern community.
"As a newcomer to the Southwestern community, I was amazed by the energy
and creativity of students willing to take the question everyone has – 'What
can I do?' – and invent possibilities that no one else had considered," said
Dean Garth, who began his tenure at the law school this year.
Further information for law student volunteers is available via email at publicinterestlaw@yahoo.com,
and for attorney volunteers at tzepeda@publiccounsel.org or mkamin@bettzedek.org.
