UA Law Students and Volunteer Lawyers Provide Free Legal Assistance to Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama School of Law students and volunteer lawyers in the Tuscaloosa area have formed a unique joint project to provide free legal assistance to persons affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Under the Hurricane Katrina Legal Assistance Project, volunteer law students interview evacuees at the Red Cross’s disaster relief center or over the phone to get basic information about their legal problems. The student is then paired with a volunteer lawyer to research the evacuee’s problem and provide legal assistance.

The project is operated at the law school through the school’s Public Interest Institute and Clinical Law Program. More than 80 first-year, second-year, and third-year law students have volunteered for the project. Attorney Cooper Shattuck of the law firm of Rosen, Cook, Sledge, Davis, Shattuck and Oldshue in Tuscaloosa is coordinating the efforts of the volunteer attorneys. This local program is in addition to other efforts of the Alabama State Bar to provide legal assistance to persons affected by Hurricane Katrina.

“Law students have been eager to help in any way possible since the hurricane hit and are enthusiastic about helping with legal assistance for displaced hurricane victims. The response from students has been amazing — we have students from all classes excited to lend a hand,” said Alane Breland, president of the law school’s Public Interest Institute Student Board.

Tamara Watson, the student volunteer coordinator, shared her experience in interviewing evacuees: “It was extremely rewarding to help those who are in need and to see the relief in their faces when they found someone that could provide some help.”

Professor Bob Kuehn, the law school supervisor of the project, noted the unique nature of the program. “To our knowledge, nowhere else in the country have law students and lawyers volunteered together to provide legal assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina. We hope that the special training and knowledge of law students and lawyers can provide much needed comfort and useful legal assistance to the many people in the area whose lives have been so dramatically affected by the storm,” he said.

Cooper Shattuck praised the efforts of local attorneys. “Our bar members are regularly involved in charitable organizations throughout the community and have been involved individually and collectively in assisting those affected by the Hurricane in a number of ways,” Shattuck said. “This program offered them an opportunity to put their legal skills to use, on a pro bono basis, providing a direct benefit to those here locally who are in need of legal assistance. The response from our local lawyers has been tremendous. I am not the least bit surprised that Tuscaloosa’s lawyers have stepped up to the plate.”

The Hurricane Katrina Legal Assistance Project operates intake tables at the Red Cross’s disaster relief center at Skyland Boulevard Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa Monday through Saturday until 2 p.m. or can be reached at 205/348-8302 or pii@law.ua.edu.