BU Law Students Support Post-Hurricane Recovery Efforts In Gulf Coast

Spring Break Volunteer Initiative In New Orleans

Motivated by the compelling, undiminished need for legal assistance in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 20 BU Law students have volunteered to spend their spring break doing pro bono work on-site in New Orleans. They will work with local nonprofits who are buried in requests for assistance. The legal issues are vast, including assisting evacuees with FEMA applications, property title issues, evictions, environmental claims, eminent domain, public benefits, employment and labor law violations, immigration, voting rights, criminal justice matters and levy breach class actions. The work will likely include fact-finding, interviewing, research and writing.

John Anderman ('08)

Kendra Kinscherf ('07)

This volunteer work week is being coordinated by the Student Hurricane Network (SHN), a national association dedicated to providing long-term assistance to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. SHN works with law students and administrators from all over the U.S. to create and coordinate volunteer opportunities for law students in the Gulf Coast. Here at BU Law John Anderman (‘08) and Kendra Kinscherf (‘07) have taken the lead in organizing a BU chapter of SHN and will be part of the team going to New Orleans. Our students are working with BU Law administrators to ensure that travel costs are as low as possible, including accommodations in hostels. Other participating law schools have funded these student trips through discretionary funds, faculty donations, fundraising events and alumni donations.

On previous SHN trips, law students have been assigned to work with the Advancement Project, the Advocacy Center, the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Capital Appeals Project, Common Ground, the Mississippi Center for Justice, Mississippi Legal Services, Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, New Orleans Legal Assistance Center, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Recovery, People's Hurricane Relief Fund, the Rebuilding Louisiana Coalition and a variety of private practitioners.

Legislative Monitoring Project

For students who don’t go to New Orleans for the pro bono spring break initiative, there are many other ways to get involved. BU Law is taking the lead nationally in the Legislative Monitoring Project. Clinical Associate Professor Cynthia Barr ('87) and Kinscherf are spearheading the national effort to follow legislation related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Gulf Coast, reporting on this legislation to attorneys in the region.

Matchmakers For Justice Project

BU Law students may be selected to participate in Matchmakers for Justice (M4J). M4J pairs hurricane victims with law students across the country. Students make a semester commitment to provide long-term one-on-one support to assist displaced residents in securing quality jobs, education, health care and housing. Interested law students participate in a competitive application process. The program begins in January 2007 with 50 law students. Selected students will travel to New Orleans for a two-day training, during which they meet the residents with whom they have been paired and local attorneys who represent the residents in a wide variety of matters. Program founder and alumnus Steve Fischbach (’83) of Rhode Island Legal Services has been instrumental in training and advising students through the program's duration.

>>View BU Today article, (includes slide show and audio), "Restoring Order to New Orleans: LAW students volunteer time and skills on Gulf Coast"