A Call to All Lawyers – Please Volunteer to Help Our Western NC Neighbors!

Will, a white man with light brown hair, wears a white shirt, pale green bowtie with darker green stripes, and a dark grey jacket.By Otis Walker

Friends and Colleagues,

Our mountain neighbors need our help to recover from the devastation caused by Helene, and there is a way that you, our state’s criminal justice practitioners, can provide critical legal services to our neighbors in need.

The North Carolina Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Division, Legal Aid of North Carolina, FEMA, the North Carolina Bar Foundation, and Pisgah Legal Services, are coordinating a way for attorneys to help our western neighbors. The program is known as Disaster Legal Services (“DLS”).

DLS volunteers will assist clients with filing FEMA claims and other basic legal services. Filing FEMA claims, as many of you may know, is a fraught and complicated process. Accurate and timely submissions are critical to ensure that aid is not delayed. As such, an attorney’s involvement in this process will be a tremendous service to those who need FEMA’s assistance. In addition to assisting with FEMA applications, attorneys may also have the opportunity to provide other disaster-recovery services.

Please, do not let the subject matter deter you. While DLS is not a criminal justice initiative, training will be provided in the form of online materials and an upcoming CLE on November 21, 2024.

Furthermore, malpractice insurance coverage is provided to attorneys, paralegals, and law students who volunteer through the DLS program.

At the North Carolina Bar Foundation link below, you can do the following:

  • Sign up to provide pro bono legal services. While signing up, you can select the kinds of services you are interested in providing.
  • View volunteer training resources. These include guides, videos, and other resources.
  • Donate to DLS. If you decide not to volunteer, please consider making a financial contribution.

Learn more about Disaster Legal Services on the NCBF website.

Please, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about DLS, or any other pro bono initiative.

Thanks for all you do for our state and our profession.

Otis Walker serves as the Pro Bono Committee Chair for the Criminal Justice Section. 

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