The Legal Aid of North Carolina still needs more help at the FEMA centers to assist in the hurricane relief efforts. Shipman & Wright is proud to have provided volunteers to assist at FEMA centers over the past few weeks and they would welcome more help on
Saturday, November 24
Monday, November 26
Tuesday, November 27
Wednesday, November 28
Thursday, November 29
Service Type: Disaster Recovery Center – Legal Information
Requested Dates: Multiple upcoming dates through November 30th
Available Shifts: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM are ideal
Old Independance Mall,
3500 Oleander Dr.
Wilmington, NC 28403
Description of Pro Bono Assistance:
Volunteers are asked to assist by providing legal information and to help provide direction to those hardest hit by Florence. We are not asking you to advise or represent clients.
If you yourself are not able to assist with any shifts, please encourage any of your staff or colleagues who may be. We can use both attorneys and paralegals for all shifts and many time-slots are unfilled.
Explanation of Program and Need:
Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) has been asked to staff FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Centers with volunteer attorneys and shifts are available beginning next week in affected areas. This outreach is an important stage of the recovery process to let people know the resources available and to help them begin getting their lives back together. Please review the program guidelines below.
This is important work and provides a valuable service to the public. There will be two shifts daily in each of the Disaster Recovery Centers, 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm. We will send out a reminder email a few days before your scheduled shift confirming the time and location.
Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) has been asked to staff FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Centers with volunteer attorneys and shifts are available beginning next week in affected areas. This outreach is an important stage of the recovery process to let people know the resources available and to help them begin getting their lives back together. Please review the program guidelines below.
This is important work and provides a valuable service to the public. There will be two shifts daily in each of the Disaster Recovery Centers, 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm. We will send out a reminder email a few days before your scheduled shift confirming the time and location.
Expectations for Volunteer Attorneys
- Provide legal information to FEMA clients.
- Individuals served by FEMA may not be eligible for Legal Aid of NC services and are not considered LANC clients. For this reason, we request that you do not give personalized advice while at the Disaster Recovery Center.
- Identify potential issues affecting hurricane victims and provide appropriate resources.
- If an individual has a substantive legal question, you should provide a general answer and refer him/her to LANC for further assistance if needed.
- Please remember to manage the client’s expectations. While we are attempting to assist as many people as possible, LANC has limited resources and there is no guarantee that we will be able to provide additional services to the client.
- Represent LANC at the Disaster Recovery Centers and let members of the public affected by Hurricane Florence know that we are here to help.
Volunteer Resources
We appreciate your flexibility and willingness to work with clients in areas that may be outside of your area of general practice so we would like to offer some resources to assist you.
- Training Video: Please take a moment to view the mandatory training video prior to your shift so you will be prepared for the types of questions likely to be asked by FEMA clients
- Training Materials: We will provide a list of local resources related to Hurricane Florence and access to the Quick Guide Manual.
Video Training 1 (Paralegal/Resource Training)
Video Training 2 (Disaster Response CLE)
- Malpractice Coverage: When providing legal information at Disaster Recovery Centers, you will be covered by LANC’s malpractice insurance.
Explanation of Legal Information
- Attorney-Client Relationship: The LSC 2008 CSR Handbook states that the provision of legal information does not create an attorney-client relationship. That means participating in this pro bono grogram does not create an attorney-client relationship.
- To comply with LANC regulations and policies all volunteers must have a complete understanding of the differences between:
- Legal Information – generic and not tailored to the recipient’s specific set of facts or circumstances.
- Examples: Providing a definition of a legal term; directing someone to resources; providing forms to someone; providing general information about court rules, practices and procedures.
- Legal Advice – specific written or oral advice, based on an analysis of the applicable law or laws as applied to someone’s specific situation, which affects the rights, responsibilities and duties of the recipient.
- Examples: Preparing or helping to complete a document that affect the legal rights of a person; representing a person before a court; negotiating the resolution of a matter on behalf of a person; offering advice regarding the possible outcome of a legal matter.
- Legal Information – generic and not tailored to the recipient’s specific set of facts or circumstances.