Press Release
Womble Carlyle Announces Project to Give Legal Aid to Katrina Victims in New Orleans
June 21, 2006
Public Relations contact: Anna Juby, (704) 331-4932
WINSTON-SALEM, NC --Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC today announced that it will undertake a Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) project that will offer free legal assistance to New Orleans residents who are still suffering nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina. Womble Carlyle lawyers will work for SLLS to help low-income New Orleans homeowners clear title and claim ownership to property they inherited that was damaged or destroyed in last year's hurricane. Once these victims are granted legal title to the property that was destroyed, they will qualify for FEMA assistance, state recovery grants, insurance, and loans to rebuild and recover their property.
New Orleans law firms Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC and Sessions Fishman Nathan, LLP will provide office space, training, and legal advice to Womble Carlyle's Louisiana pro bono efforts.
"Our firm had worked with a number of firms in Louisiana and Mississippi for decades when Katrina hit," said Tripp Greason, Womble Carlyle's Pro Bono Director, "so it was natural for us to ask, 'How can we help?’ We found that the legal disaster left by Katrina is so vast that it’s nearly overwhelming. Our discussions with Paul Tuttle, pro bono coordinator at SLLS in New Orleans, led to the creation of a project that will efficiently match our volunteer lawyers with client needs in this single area of law."
Womble Carlyle will work under the supervision of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services to provide a variety of legal services for this project, including interviewing homeowners, helping them obtain relevant legal documents for their property, evaluating their options for clearing title through probate, helping SLLS provide legal counsel to homeowners regarding their options, preparing pleadings and affidavits for probate lawsuits, and filing petitions and obtaining judgments of possession.
Womble Carlyle expects that this pro bono project will involve approximately 200 cases from July 10 to August 31, 2006. The firm will send "waves" of four to six lawyers from several of its offices to New Orleans each week to provide direct aid to victims. Lawyers and administrative professionals throughout the firm’s ten home offices will provide drafting and research assistance.
About Womble Carlyle
A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among the leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the South Atlantic states. The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first and only law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a company in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.
Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in five states and the District of Columbia with more than 500 attorneys in ten offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; and Wilmington, DE. Although located in the South Atlantic region, Womble Carlyle draws its client base from across the United States.