ABA IMPLEMENTS DISASTER PLANS FOR HURRICANE RESPONSE
ABA IMPLEMENTS DISASTER PLANS FOR HURRICANE RESPONSE
DAN TRAYNOR ABA Delegate
After severe hurricanes impacted Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands, the American Bar Association’ s( ABA) Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness sprang into action.
As Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, ABA President Hilarie Bass announced a coordinated effort to provide lawyers with information they need to provide assistance to hurricane victims. This effort encouraged increased indigent legal services and pro bono representation for the many civil legal needs of disaster survivors. ABA policies support preservation of the rule of law, availability of emergency health care, and prompt attention by insurance and mitigation services.
The State Bar Association of North Dakota responded by observing the Texas Supreme Court’ s order permitting attorneys licensed in other states to provide legal services to victims of Hurricane Harvey. The effort was coordinated by ABA Free Legal Answers, www. freelegalanswers. org, a virtual legal advice clinic.
Disasters come in all shapes and sizes. With floods in Grand Forks and Minot and fires in Williston, North Dakota lawyers have seen their share of disasters as well. In times of natural disaster at home, North Dakota’ s court system has allowed rule flexibility and encouraged lawyers to respond with probono services. Most recently, the Supreme Court allowed out-of-state lawyers to
26 THE GAVEL practice in North Dakota to alleviate the flood of major and minor crimes arising from the Dakota Access Pipeline( DAPL) protest. While the DAPL protest was not a natural disaster, the rule was interpreted to allow for flexibility in representation by out-of-state counsel, consistent with existing rules to protect the public.
The ABA Standing Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness has authored“ Surviving a Disaster: A Lawyer’ s Guide to Disaster Planning” as a comprehensive resource on disaster preparation. This publication is among a great collection of information for disaster preparedness resources, including videos and free CLEs.
The ABA Legal Technology Center suggests best practices and checklists for computer backup, disposal, and disaster preparedness. The Law Practice Management Section suggests security advice for solo practitioners, along with aftermath recovery. Disaster legal hotlines can be created for mass disaster situations.
The ABA offers resources to protect lawyers and law firms from the impacts of disasters large and small on the ABA’ s website, www. americanbar. org / disaster.
Cheers to Judge Jim Hill
North Dakota’ s ABA State Delegate Judge James S. Hill just completed a term as chair of the ABA’ s Commission on Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts( IOLTA). Under Judge Hill’ s leadership, the IOLTA Commission had a successful run with members serving on four joint committees focused on meetings and training, communications, resource development / banking, and technical assistance. Judge Hill’ s tenure ended with several well-attended IOLTA workshops at the ABA Annual meeting. The most talked-about session included an update on funding for Legal Services Corporation( LSC) followed by a non-partisan rally in support of LSC funding.
2017 National Lawyer Referral Workshop
The ABA’ s Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Services hosted the National Lawyer Referral Workshop in Portland, Ore., in early November. The agenda included helpful information for lawyer referral programs as an important component of connecting the public with legal services. The sessions encouraged a higher profile for lawyer referral programs in social media and Google visibility. Several states have employed online platforms to more efficiently connect lawyers with clients.
In most jurisdictions, the lawyer referral program is a service provided to lawyers as a business development tool. Lawyers in most jurisdictions pay to be listed in the lawyer referral directory. In North Dakota, the lawyer referral program is more of a service to the public, addressing access-to-justice issues in a state with more legal matters than lawyers to handle them. Lawyers are listed for free with clients paying a minimal charge for a half-hour consult with a lawyer.
2018 Midyear Meeting
The ABA’ s Midyear Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 in Vancouver, B. C. The meeting agenda and program materials are in the process of being developed.