News Article

Republished with permission of the NC Bar Association
Originally published in the February 2007 edition of The Litigator, a publication of the North Carolina Bar Association Litigation Section.

N.C. Attorneys Provide Assistance to Homeowners in the Wake of Katrina

Like many of us, I was frustrated that my response to the 2005 disaster on the Gulf Coast seemed limited to writing a check. In the wake of the storms, there was no doubt of the acute need for long-term community service of all types—including community service that only lawyers have the license necessary to perform. Many in our firm and in the communities in which we live generously participated in trips to triage and clean up certain towns in the affected region of the Gulf Coast. Nonetheless, the fact that the civil and criminal legal systems in those regions had been bulldozed by the storm raised the question of how out-of-state lawyers could assist as lawyers.

The Supreme Courts of Louisiana and Mississippi each issued pro bono practice rules that made it possible for lawyers licensed to practice outside of those states to perform certain types of Katrina-related pro bono legal service. After the Louisiana Supreme Court extended its pro bono practice rule in late January 2006, I got to work to channel our frustration into action.

With the passionate support of partners Keith Vaughan, Cris Windham, and Cal Adams, we set out to develop a project with low barriers to entry and high impact. I had conversations with each of the Louisiana legal service providers for which out-of-state lawyers could work under the Louisiana Rule before finding a good fit with New Orleans Legal Assistance/Southeast Louisiana Legal Services in New Orleans ("SLLS").

After dozens of conversations and with the inspired leadership of Mark Moreau and Paul Tuttle of SLLS, we developed a project both responsive to a need—rebuilding homes damaged or destroyed by the storm—and approachable by lawyers from any area of practice.

We chose to narrow the scope of our pro bono efforts to providing assistance to New Orleans homeowners whose family homes were destroyed or damaged by Katrina. Many of these low-wealth homeowners had been living in their family homes for multiple generations without taking the formal, legal steps necessary to pass clear title from one generation of owners to another. Soon after their homes were washed away by Katrina, these homeowners discovered that they were not eligible for a range of benefits—homeowners insurance, FEMA, The Road Home, e.g.—without clear title to their homes. Accordingly, the purpose of our project is to help these Katrina victims by completing and filing the legal work ("successions") necessary to give them clear title.

Our decision to take on a small piece of the vast legal needs confronting Katrina victims had a number of positive ‘internal’ effects. For example, it opened up a pro bono opportunity in an area of law outside the normal comfort zone of most litigators. It also changed many lawyers’ perception that pro bono is for litigators only and opened up an area in which lawyers from across all areas of experience could develop competence.

The cooperative efforts of Carole Neff of Sessions Fishman Nathan, LLP, Laura Plunkett of Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC (Womble Carlyle has long-standing relationships with each firm), and SLLS helped eliminate the training barrier to entry. Application for the limited certification for pro bono practice in Louisiana was painless. We were ready to begin.

Of course, since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, we had to travel to our potential clients. We decided to put teams of four to six lawyers (including Patricia Cowart, Demian Betz, Patricia Austin from our good client Wachovia) and paralegals on the ground from July 10 until Aug. 31 for client meetings and deed vault research.

We arrived and discovered that we had no idea how bad the situation was and is: No combination of words and images can adequately convey the scope of the devastation visited upon the Gulf Coast by the 2005 storms. The scene was similar to pictures we have seen of a war zone. However, we found that the people of New Orleans, although often heartbroken and still in shock, had a good-humored resilience that conferred a sense of dignity upon an otherwise hellish emptiness.

We interviewed hundreds of potential clients, and were able to begin helping almost 200 of them over the summer. Since that time, we’ve devoted several thousand hours to serving these clients, some of whom are already on their way to obtaining the funds necessary for rebuilding their homes and their lives. As lawyers, we had the unique opportunity to help build the legal foundation necessary for this rebuilding to take place, and we are humbled yet gratified by it.

-- Tripp Greason, Womble Carlyle Pro Bono Director