II. DLS: A Brief History
In August 1969, Hurricane Camille traversed the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in Waveland, Mississippi, as a Category 5 hurricane. At the time, Camille was only the second Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States (the first being the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935). Camille had sustained winds of 180 miles per hour and storm surges as high as twenty-six feet. It destroyed nearly every structure along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, killing 239 people and causing nearly $10 billion in damages. The Mississippi Young Lawyer Section responded by creating a Disaster Relief Committee, which was the country’s first documented, coordinated response to provide free legal assistance to disaster survivors.
After Hurricane Camille, it became obvious to the ABA and YLD leadership that a national organization that assisted with disaster response, recovery, and preparedness could be of great assistance to state and local programs. After a similar response to the Buffalo Creek flood in 1972, the YLD leadership submitted a proposal to the ABA Board of Governors to establish a program that would provide legal assistance to disaster survivors and to enter into an agreement with the OEP. With unanimous approval by the Board, the ABA YLD signed an agreement with the OEP, thus officially creating the ABA YLD’s Disaster Emergency Relief Committee, now referred to as the DLS program. The agreement was renewed numerous times over the next two decades. In 1993, FEMA drafted a new MOU, which created a more expansive relationship with the ABA YLD in light of lessons learned after Hurricane Andrew. The new MOU obligated FEMA to provide funding for a toll-free hotline and training to YLD district representatives (DRs).
After Hurricane Katrina, the ABA expanded its efforts to address legal needs arising in disasters when it convened a task force to address the ABA’s response to Katrina. The task force evolved into the Standing Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness (SCDRP), which still exists today. The SCDRP’s charter states that the committee will consist of up to nine members, which shall:
a) Endeavor to ensure that lawyers, law-related organizations, the judicial system, and the public have the resources, legal services, and information to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major disasters.
b) Provide technical assistance and planning advice to a wide range of constituents in the field, including bar associations, pro bono programs, legal services offices, bar leaders, law schools, corporate counsel, judges, and government attorneys.
c) Produce publications, maintain an online library of materials on a wide range of emergency management topics, and present seminars, webinars, and workshops on relevant topics.
d) Foster the development of disaster planning and recovery programs and activities by law firms, bar associations, corporate legal departments, law schools, government attorney offices, and others.
e) Analyze the scope and function of law-related emergency management programs.
f) Propose and review policy related to legal aspects of disaster response and preparedness, including the delivery of disaster legal services.
g) Coordinate among ABA entities and other entities in the legal and emergency management communities the association’s response to major disasters.
h) Endeavor to ensure that the ABA’s business continuity plans are up to date and periodically tested.
Although the DLS program exists to be the exclusive coordinator of legal services to disaster survivors, the committee focuses on matters not related to the delivery of legal services, such as providing educational programs, webinars, resources, and publications for the disaster legal services community. The committee also introduced or cosponsored several substantive disaster-related policy resolutions, most notably, the Model Court Rule on Provision of Legal Services Following Determination of Major Disaster (commonly referred to as the Katrina Rule). The Katrina Rule enables the deployment of out-of-state lawyers to provide pro bono legal services in regions that are affected by major disasters and enables lawyers who are displaced by a major disaster in their home jurisdiction to provide legal services to similarly displaced clients in other jurisdictions. At least twenty-two states or territories adopted the Katrina Rule in some form.
The DLS program has evolved significantly since its initial agreement with the OEP in 1973. What started as a program that focused on counseling, hand-holding, and being a dispatcher has evolved into a sophisticated program that provides comprehensive civil legal services, including help with medical, life, and property insurance problems; assistance with evictions, foreclosures, and other landlord-tenant problems; help with consumer-protection disputes; preparing new wills and other legal papers relating to the disaster; drafting powers of attorney and guardianship materials; FEMA appeals and other disaster-related claims against the government; and many other legal services that directly help disaster survivors. Today, the program continues to have a strong relationship with FEMA, and program leaders routinely meet with the agency to discuss best practices and lessons learned and to resolve systemic issues. In addition to the relationship with FEMA, the program maintains strong relationships with legal partners such as Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and its grantees, Pro Bono Net, and state and local bar associations, including numerous YLD affiliates. The program continues to cultivate relationships with non-legal partners, such as American Red Cross (ARC) and local volunteer organizations active in disasters (VOADs). Although not every agency that provides disaster legal services partners with the YLD’s program, it is the only program that has a formal relationship with FEMA. This relationship allows access to information such as registration metrics, Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) information—such as advance notice of DRC openings and closings, foot traffic, etc.—and access to other state and local contacts.
III. The Federal Statutory Framework for DLS
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) of 1988 sets out the system by which a Presidential Disaster Declaration or an Emergency Declaration triggers financial and physical assistance through FEMA. On proper authorization, FEMA may provide housing assistance, crisis counseling, unemployment assistance, and other types of assistance, including disaster legal services. DLS provides free, confidential legal assistance to low-income disaster survivors who have insufficient resources to secure adequate legal services, whether that lack of resources existed prior to or was caused by a major disaster.
After a U.S. president makes a Major Disaster Declaration and authorizes Individual Assistance, FEMA makes a determination of the need for DLS. If requested, the regional FEMA human services officer contacts the DLS director and requests activation of the program through a letter of intent. The letter of intent includes authorization of initial funding of $5,000 to implement the program in the specific state or territory. This modest funding is essential to offset startup expenses, which typically include the costs of creating and publicizing a press release, and then establishing and administering a toll-free hotline. For larger disasters, such as for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria, FEMA authorized additional funds for the ABA YLD’s disaster hotline because of prolonged recovery efforts. In practice, the program can provide scale to existing efforts by complementing the services that are already provided by legal aid organizations. Many of these organizations receive funding from LSC.
LSC is the nation’s largest, single funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans. Established by Congress in 1974, LSC operates as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and promotes equal access to justice by providing grants to nonprofit legal aid organizations in every state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Each year, LSC distributes more than 90 percent of its federal appropriations to 132 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in more than 800 offices. LSC-funded programs assist Americans in households with annual incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. As explained in more detail later, the LSC program office and its grantees work closely with ABA YLD to ensure that the legal response is coordinated.
IV. The ABA YLD DLS Program
Although the letter of intent that FEMA issues serves as the official notice that DLS assistance will be requested after a disaster, a tremendous amount of planning and coordination occurs prior to the letter of intent—even prior to the disaster itself. To better understand this planning, it is helpful to understand the roles and responsibilities of those tasked with managing and staffing DLS within ABA YLD.
Each year, the incoming YLD chair appoints members to various leadership positions throughout the division. Appointments include the DLS director and DLS team members. Today, the DLS team consists of nearly a dozen young lawyers across the country who have some experience in disaster law or civil legal services. YLD also has thirty-four DRs, who represent its affiliated young lawyer organizations across the United States and its territories. A DR serves as a conduit for their local YLD affiliates to the ABA YLD and vice versa. Representatives serve two-year terms and are responsible for, among other things, coordinating DLS within their district in partnership with FEMA. The DRs attend leadership training each year, which includes DLS training that is conducted in coordination with FEMA and the DLS team. In practice, the DR brings to the table the relationships with the local community, and the DLS member brings program management experience, both of which are vital to a successful implementation.
One of the first tasks assigned to a new DR is to review and update the state’s disaster plan. The disaster plan typically is a two-page document that contains a high-level summary of which organization will have ownership over the toll-free disaster hotline and how volunteers will be recruited and trained. It also includes contact information for the appropriate stakeholders, such as the legal aid providers, and for the state and local bar associations. DRs are encouraged to introduce themselves to stakeholders in advance of a disaster, because this is a better time to build relationships than during or after a disaster. The state’s disaster plan also serves as a source of institutional knowledge given the short terms of DRs and DLS team members.
The procedure for responding to the letter of intent has changed over the years. In its current format, the DLS director assigns a team member to reach out to the DR to ensure that the toll-free hotline is established and that a press release is issued within 48 hours. The hotline should be promoted with local partners and with local newspapers, shelters, government agencies, and other direct service providers. Concurrent with a hotline implementation, the DR and DLS team member organize a coordination call with relevant legal and non-legal partners at the state and local levels, such as with the state bar association, legal aid organizations, the ARC, and FEMA, among others. The coordination call serves as an opportunity for all stakeholders to brief one another and to set up an action plan for the next steps. In addition to periodic calls, the DLS team collects data from the toll-free hotline and submits a weekly report to FEMA.
The DLS program is broad in its eligibility guidelines, and per the Stafford Act, requires only that a disaster survivor has “insufficient resources to secure adequate legal services” at the time of the disaster, and that the case is not “fee-generating.” This eligibility test is significantly relaxed compared to LSC-funded legal aid programs, which are set at 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, with few exceptions. The relaxed eligibility standard for DLS services assures that those who truly cannot afford an attorney will have access to representation. However, because the DLS program coordinates extensively with many LSC grantees, careful planning is required to ensure that ineligible clients are not being funneled to LSC grantees. For example, the YLD disaster program in Texas is coordinated through the State Bar of Texas, which routes callers from a statewide number to one of the three legal LSC grantees in the state. If a caller is not eligible for services, either due to income or citizenship, the LSC grantee cannot make a referral to a pro bono attorney because such a referral would violate LSC regulations. After Hurricane Harvey, a significant number of noncitizens were affected by the hurricane, which required the DLS program to coordinate with the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program (HVLP), a non-LSC civil legal services organization, which allowed the DLS program to make direct referrals of noncitizens to HVLP.
Every disaster is unique, which is why the DLS program has a “whatever it takes” approach in its response. On the most passive end, the program may simply serve as a connector or facilitator of local programs with national stakeholders. This typically is the case in Texas and Florida, which have frequent disasters, and as a result, the states have well-run and efficient programs to address the needs of disaster survivors. On the other end of the spectrum, the program may take a more active role, such as recruiting, organizing, training, and deploying volunteers, which is what happened after Tropical Cyclone Gita in American Samoa in 2018. Because the legal community is very small in the territory, stateside attorneys volunteered virtually and worked approximately 150 FEMA appeals.
The DLS program is continuously evolving and improving. For example, in 2020, ABA YLD entered into an agreement with RingCentral, Inc., to create a national hotline that funneled toll-free disaster hotline numbers across the country to a single point of contact. A single point of contact allows greater efficiency in marketing the program on a national level by promoting only one number. Around the same time, the DLS program partnered with Paladin, a justice tech company that specializes in pro bono software, to launch the first national disaster relief pro bono portal. The centralized, sortable database lists opportunities to serve those affected by COVID-19 and other natural disasters.
With that primer on the program, we can now address how lawyers can individually prepare for disasters and what you can do to prepare to take a pro bono case. We also will discuss best practices and resources to assist you along the way.
V. Be Prepared
Before getting into what to expect as a volunteer, a more basic question persists: Are you prepared to work through a disaster or pandemic? True to the adage to “put on your own mask before helping others with their mask,” any prospective volunteer should make sure that their own house is in order and have a plan for a disaster. There is a good chance that you or your firm or organization will also be affected by a disaster, and you will be of little help to disaster survivors if you are not prepared.
Being prepared means having a plan. Your plan does not need to be perfect. In fact, the saying goes, “a plan is useless, but planning is essential.” This is especially critical for solo and small-firm attorneys who may not have the same resources as a larger firm. If you are starting from scratch, the ABA has a library of free planning tools on the Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness website and on the ABA Task Force on Legal Needs Arising Out of 2020 website. Both websites are referenced in the “Resources” section of the Standing Committee Website. It is worth discussing your resiliency plan with those who are situated similarly to you, not just in terms of practice setting, but also in firm size, geographic location, and risk factors. For example, a large firm’s approach to disaster preparedness in Miami may be vastly different from a solo practitioner in Cheyenne. Your state or local bar association may have resiliency resources, or even a committee that is designed to address this issue. For general preparedness resources, check out Ready.gov, FEMA, and the ARC websites.
When you have a plan, test it. This does not mean that you should set your law office on fire so you can take the training wheels off your plan. You can, however, reasonably simulate different potential disaster scenarios. Think of your work in terms of processes and things that support those processes. Treat them like links in a chain. Remove links from that chain. For example, try working without internet or without your daily tools, such as a printer, mouse, paper, etc. Take note of your experience. Identify key processes that are compromised when routine things such as power, cell service, or the freedom to freely move around are impacted.
VI. Your Role as a Volunteer
Now that you are personally ready for a disaster, you are ready to take the first steps in volunteering. As a volunteer attorney in the DLS program, you are just that—a volunteer, and not a representative of FEMA. You have the same ethical obligations that you would have for any other client, such as the duty of confidentiality, competent representation, and zealous representation. Although licensure in the state you are volunteering in is assumed, it is not always a prerequisite. In some instances, lawyers from outside jurisdictions may be permitted to provide pro bono legal services in disaster matters. At the time of publication, twenty-two states and two territories (American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands) have adopted a Katrina Rule, which allows attorneys admitted in at least one jurisdiction the ability to provide pro bono assistance on disaster related matters.
There are dozens of legal issues that a volunteer can assist with in response to a disaster, and the legal needs arise from as early as the day of the event to years in the future, which means it is never too early—or too late—to help. Often, attorneys feel most compelled to help in the days after a disaster; however, it usually is weeks or months after the incident that the pro bono needs materialize. So, be patient. In the past, some volunteers who expressed interest immediately after the disaster withdrew months later when the need for help was fully vested. Pro bono coordination can be a disaster within a disaster if all the volunteers back out.
In the first few weeks after a disaster, critical legal issues arise, including unlawful lease terminations and evictions, utility shutoffs, recovery of security deposits, repair issues, FEMA applications, insurance claims, vital document replacement, wage theft issues, unemployment applications and appeals, public benefits applications and appeals, and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan applications, to name a few.
In the months that follow, the legal needs will start to ramp up. Common legal issues include appealing determinations by FEMA or SBA, landlord-tenant issues, housing subsidy renewals, displaced public housing tenant issues, foreclosure prevention, real property title clearing and probate, repair and contractor scams, insurance scams and claim disputes, price gouging, access to public education while displaced, power of attorney (POA) (for care of a child or senior), guardianships and supportive decision making, emergency custody modifications, parenting order modifications, and domestic violence issues.
Legal issues will persist, and new issues will arise in the months and even years after the disaster. Typical long-term legal issues include foreclosures, landlord-tenant issues, flood insurance disputes, disaster tax relief, bankruptcies, disability rights cases, and FEMA recoupments.
As noted, the timing and scope of legal needs are vast, and so is the manner in which you can volunteer. Volunteering typically can be done in three ways:
Provide legal information. In the first few days and weeks after a disaster, there may be a need to provide legal information to survivors because their legal needs may have not vested yet. Here, an attorney can volunteer at a shelter or DRC to provide flyers and basic legal information, or even to provide “know your rights” presentations to those affected by the disaster. A common example is providing survivors with information about what their rights are as a tenant and explaining some of the unlawful actions a landlord might take against them as a renter. Receiving this information may give the survivor the tools to prevent a legal issue from arising. This type of volunteer opportunity is beneficial because it is a limited time commitment and very little training is needed to be effective.
The downside of this type of volunteer opportunity is that the volunteer has little closure regarding the individual that they assist, meaning that they will talk to that individual only once, and likely will not know the outcome of the information they provided.
Provide brief services. A few weeks into the disaster, many legal aid organizations and bar associations will mobilize legal help clinics to provide assistance to disaster survivors. These opportunities provide more than basic legal information; they aim to help survivors with their legal issue as it applies to the facts of their individual situation. These clinics vary on how they operate. For example, some clinics will provide as much assistance as possible on that specific day, but not take on any matters as cases, whereas others may result in the volunteer taking cases that are not resolved during the clinic. This type of volunteer opportunity is popular because it allows the attorney to do more than just hand out flyers—they can use their legal skills to advocate for a disaster survivor and help them obtain relief. Depending on how the clinic operates, it also can be a limited time commitment for the volunteer.
The downside of this type of volunteer opportunity is that the volunteer again might not have closure on the outcome of the case. For example, the volunteer may draft a letter to a landlord to resolve a housing dispute, but they may never know the outcome of the issue. In other instances, the volunteer may end up taking on a pro bono case for extended representation, which may not have been the expectation of the volunteer.
Provide extended representation. This type of volunteer opportunity probably is what most people think of when they think of pro bono representation, which is that the volunteer agrees to represent a disaster survivor to help them resolve their legal issues arising from the disaster. This type of volunteer opportunity is great for attorneys who have subject matter expertise or who can learn as they go and take a case from start to finish. The attorney gets to use their legal skills to advocate for their pro bono client, and their efforts are directly related to the outcome of the case.
The downside of this type of opportunity is that the matter may take a long time to resolve, or the attorney may be intimidated to take on a case outside their subject matter expertise. However, the DLS program can provide opportunities for mentoring and training, so lack of subject matter expertise should not be a deterrent to volunteering.
Due to COVID-19, many programs had to retool their service delivery model to accommodate for social distancing and shelter-in-place orders. As a result, the opportunities that are described here still exist, but they may look a little different than they did prior to the pandemic. Some of these workarounds have already proven to be beneficial to attorneys and clients, and they may continue when the pandemic is over. Reach out to your local legal aid community to determine what types of opportunities exist and which type of opportunity is right for you.
VII. Best Practices
Over the years, the program has gleaned tips and tricks to make volunteers and pro bono coordinators successful. Here are just a few of the best practices we have observed over the years:
Be proactive. The legal issues that disaster survivors face are similar to—if not identical to—issues that legal services clients face daily. For this reason, potential volunteers are encouraged to coordinate with their local legal aid provider and get experience on legal matters that typically face those with limited means, such as landlord-tenant matters. When a disaster strikes, the needs and vulnerabilities of low-income people are amplified, and the need for legal assistance becomes even more critical. You can help by being experienced and ready to take cases the moment that need arises.
Be prepared, not overwhelmed. Advanced planning is critical to the success of helping a community after a disaster. There is no shortage of training materials and other resources available; however, not all the resources that are easily available on the internet are particularly good, or even current. Refer to the resources listed in the following section, but do not get lost in them. Get a sense of what the legal issues are, how to resolve them, and take a case. If you get stuck, ask for help. You will never truly feel 100 percent ready to take a case until you work several cases.
Be patient and accountable. As stated, the legal needs may not vest immediately. Be patient and understand that the vesting and coordination of pro bono cases may take weeks, if not months after the disaster. It is critical that you are realistic with your capacity to volunteer. If you sign up to take a case, honor that commitment. Backing out at the last minute hurts the organization and the clients it serves.
Be a mentor. The biggest obstacle in recruiting pro bono volunteers is getting them over the apprehension of taking on a case in a subject matter that is unfamiliar to them. Having a mentor goes a long way to give a new volunteer peace of mind if they get stuck or want to bounce ideas off another person. Consider being a mentor for new volunteers, and encourage them to be mentors after they gain more experience.
VIII. Resources
In addition to this book, several resources are available for learning more about the substantive legal claims a volunteer would work on. Use the resources to get acclimated to the subject matter, or use them as a resource guide as you volunteer, but do not overwhelm yourself:
ABA resources. The ABA has several resources to help attorneys better prepare for disasters, and it provides training to volunteers. Look to the Standing Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness website, the ABA YLD DLS website, and the ABA Pandemic Task Force website for more information. In late 2020, the ABA also published its Community Resilience Handbook.The handbook draws together the contributions of acknowledged experts from the legal community and from across the spectrum of professional disciplines, including architecture, agriculture, disaster risk reduction, engineering, social science, insurance, finance and economics, building sciences, and facility management to demonstrate that improved community resilience is practical, achievable, and in the best interests of attorneys and their clients.
National Disaster Legal Aid (NDLA). NDLA is a collaborative effort of NDLA, the ABA, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), and ProBono.Net. The website serves as a centralized resource for legal aid and pro bono attorneys across the country on legal issues related to all types of disasters and to provide timely information about legal issues related to disasters and survivors.
LSC Disaster Task Force report. In 2018, LSC convened a Disaster Task Force to address the legal needs that arise in a disaster. It focused on relationship building and providing coordinated legal services, training pro bono attorneys, continuity of operations planning, and preparing individuals and communities for disasters. The Task Force released its report in late 2019.
Practising Law Institute (PLI) disaster series. PLI is a nonprofit learning organization that is dedicated to keeping attorneys and other professionals at the forefront of knowledge and expertise. The organization provides numerous high-quality, accredited Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs in numerous formats. Its disaster series is updated each year and is available for free.
Taking a pro bono case for a disaster survivor is a rewarding experience and can be some of the most meaningful work in your legal career. Personal accounts from volunteers are inspiring and endless. Over the years, the DLS program has helped thousands of disaster survivors with a wide array of legal issues. For example, after the Big Thompson flood in 1976, pro bono lawyers helped local businesses in Estes Park, Colorado apply for an SBA disaster assistance loan after the only road into the town was washed out by the flood. In 1992, volunteers drove overnight from Tampa to Homestead in Florida to help Hurricane Andrew survivors outside a FEMA recovery center. They held up a cardboard sign on which they had written, “Free legal help.” After the Oklahoma City bombing, a volunteer attorney appeared at a judge’s house at 11 p.m. to get guardianship papers signed, so a child whose parents were killed in the bombing could live with her aunt and uncle. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a volunteer helped the wife of a firefighter who was killed in the World Trade Center resolve a consumer matter on behalf of her deceased husband. After Hurricane Katrina, volunteers helped thousands of New Orleans residents appeal denials of disaster benefits that were based on insufficient proof of ownership. This is just a sliver of the impact pro bono attorneys have had on disaster survivors. Hopefully, this chapter serves as a call to action for attorneys to get trained on the legal issues disaster survivors face and to volunteer when the next disaster strikes.
SBA Regional Offices
Region I (New England)
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
Region II (Atlantic)
- New York
- New Jersey
- Puerto Rico
- U.S. Virgin Islands
Region III (Mid-Atlantic)
- Delaware
- Maryland
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- Washington, DC
- West Virginia
Region IV (Southeast)
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
Region V (Great Lakes)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
Region VI (South Central)
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
Region VII (Great Plains)
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nebraska
Region VIII (Rocky Mountain)
- Colorado
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Wyoming
Region IX (Pacific)
- Arizona
- California
- Guam
- Hawaii
- Nevada
- Region X (Pacific Northwest)
- Alaska
- Idaho
- Oregon
- Washington
