Houston’s Legal Community Answers
the Call for Volunteers in the Wake of Katrina

Reported by Fred Simpson, Maxine Goodman, Andrea Vogelsang, and Tara Shockley

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of evacuees arrived in Houston in search of shelter, food and hope. Hundreds of volunteers gave their time, money and effort to help the new arrivals. The legal community figured prominently in the volunteer effort. This article looks at just a few of the impressive volunteer efforts staged by the Houston legal community.

Using Technology to Assist Evacuees
Many of those who evacuated were taken to the Astrodome, where hundreds of local volunteers offered emergency assistance of all kinds. Among the volunteers was Jamie Vargo, a legal assistant at Jackson Walker’s Houston office. Hearing of the need for the evacuees to be put in contact with relatives and loved ones, Vargo asked Bill Jackson of the Harris County Automated Tax System what she could do to help. He answered, “We need an accessible computer database for finding the family members of all these displaced persons.”
Vargo recruited volunteers from Jackson Walker’s Houston office, and two other law firms joined the project: Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. In all, more than 85 volunteers worked on the project throughout their three-day Labor Day holiday weekend. Vargo recruited 53 volunteers from Jackson Walker’s Houston office; Vinson & Elkins brought 21 volunteers and Bracewell & Giuliani sent 16 volunteers. Volunteers included the firms’ lawyers, legal assistants, secretaries, copy center workers and their family members.
Working with the Red Cross, the project employed resources from MicroSoft, Dell, Capitol LLC, Ridgeway’s Legal Services, Softwise Corporation, and Document Technologies Incorporated. The project required the creation of a computer database, the securing of “paper” information on each of the arrivals, and the recording of each individual’s information in the database for retrieval when inquiries were made. Within 72 hours, the combined force created the database, which comprised more than 17,400 entries of displaced persons who were then capable of being located by family and loved ones throughout the United States.

Law Schools Step Up
Houston’s law schools welcomed hundreds of students whose academic lives were interrupted by Katrina. Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law opened its doors to 848 students from regions devastated by the storm and its aftermath. The students came from Xavier University (253), Dillard University (153), Delgado Community College (106), Southern University at New Orleans (137), and University of New Orleans (137).
TSU accommodated these students -- many of whom were dealing with the loss of homes, personal possessions and even loved ones -- by deferring tuition and waiving application fees and out-of-state fees. The school also provided counseling, health services, housing, child care and food services.
South Texas College of Law admitted 29 displaced Louisiana law students who evacuated after Hurricane Katrina. The students were enrolled free of charge. South Texas’ professors offered make-up classes and tutorials to ensure the new students felt “caught up” and to ensure they complied with American Bar Association attendance regulations. The campus bookstore and several textbook publishers offered the new STCL students free textbooks, and the STCL Board of Advocates and Student Bar Association helped the Louisiana students with housing and mentoring. In addition, several student organizations coordinated a clothing, toy and baby-supply drive to help those who suffered losses from the storm.
Abraham Hamilton III, a third-year Loyola student who spent a semester at STCL, said the school’s students and professors treated him with kindness and generosity. Hamilton said two of his professors offered special tutoring sessions to teach him the material he missed because of the hurricane, and countless students offered him their notes. “I couldn’t imagine it being a better experience,” said Hamilton, who has returned to Loyola’s law school in New Orleans. Hamilton said he looks forward to returning to South Texas for some third-year courses.
The University of Houston Law Center opened its physical facility to displaced Loyola students and professors. The school provided classrooms and office space so that approximately 300 students could continue their legal studies. The students and professors were part of the UH community from mid-October until December, when the students returned to Loyola for exams.

Firms Help Employees, Families
Some Houston attorneys were more affected than most by Hurricane Katrina. For instance, the attorneys and staff of the Houston office of McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC, a New Orleans-based firm, served double duty in the days following the hurricane, helping in relief efforts both personally and professionally. McGlinchey, which employs 184 attorneys, usually houses 18 attorneys and 32 staff members in Houston. These numbers dramatically increased, however, in the aftermath of Katrina.
McGlinchey’s Houston-based lawyers were organized early. Within a day of the storm’s making landfall, McGlinchey’s Houston office organized “Project Phoenix,” which provided shelter, clothes, food and money to those within the McGlinchey family who were displaced. Local lawyers and staff assisted Louisiana McGlinchy families who were searching for long-term housing, schools for their children and even places to board their pets.
A team of McGlinchey attorneys and staff re-entered New Orleans soon after the flooding to retrieve essential equipment and physical files. Meanwhile, using its emergency response plan, the Louisiana McGlinchey attorneys were quickly assigned to one of McGlinchey’s four other southeastern offices in Houston, Dallas, Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi. As a result, the Houston office has swelled: Conference room space in the Houston office is utilized as makeshift offices, and the library was converted into temporary offices while a new floor was renovated to accommodate those who left New Orleans to relocate permanently to Houston.
Some Houston-based law firms also established funds to help the family and friends of their employees who were impacted by the hurricanes. Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom, L.L.P., for example, set up the MDJW Katrina Relief Fund, where the firm matched employee donations. Over $10,000 was donated to non-employees who needed help, as well as clothes, food and household items

HBA Implements Comprehensive Plan
In the hours and days following Katrina, the Houston Bar Association implemented its own disaster relief assistance plan. The HBA immediately established communication with na-tional, state and local bar associations in the areas hit by the storm. Through email, the HBA kept the associations and their members informed about disaster relief efforts in Texas. At the same time, the HBA established communication with the other bar associations in Texas to encourage them to set up similar relief efforts and to exchange information on programs.
The HBA began immediate com-munication with its members through email and its website to advise them about relief efforts and opportunities to help. The HBA website prominently featured resources for the legal profession and the public, and was constantly updated. HBA leadership communicated with city and county officials to let them know about relief efforts and to find out how the HBA could assist in citywide efforts. The HBA leadership worked closely with the leadership of its Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program to develop immediate and ongoing legal services for hurricane evacuees. Those activities are described in the article, “HVLP Offers Legal Assistance for Survivors of Gulf Coast Disasters” by David Mandell and Barrett Reasoner, beginning on page 18 of this issue.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 attorneys -- approximately one-third of the lawyers in Louisiana -- lost their offices to Katrina. Many of those attorneys came to Houston. The HBA staff and volunteers served as a clearinghouse in the weeks after the storm for more than 200 offers by HBA members of temporary office space and living space for the displaced attorneys and their families. The HBA matched those with needs and those offering help. This service included employment for some attorneys. In addition, the HBA provided free Continuing Legal Education to attorneys who evacuated to Houston.
When the Fifth Circuit announced it would temporarily move its New Orleans courts and offices to Houston, the HBA offered to help coordinate the move. The Fifth Circuit had a disaster plan, but the HBA was able to assist with housing needs for some of the judges and court employees.
In addition:

• The Houston Bar Association and Houston Young Lawyers Association worked with NBC affiliate Channel 2 and the Houston Association of Realtors to answer phone lines and coordinate housing options for non-attorney evacuees.
• The Houston Bar Association and the Houston Bar Foundation set up a relief fund to collect donations for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. HBA Members donated more than $2.6 million dollars to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other disaster relief efforts.
• The Houston Bar Association and the Houston Bar Foundation set up a fund to provide monetary support to legal aid providers in the states hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. The funds were dedicated for legal advice and legal services for victims related solely to the disaster, including probate matters, price gouging claims, landlord-tenant issues, and FEMA assistance issues. The donations to this fund totaled nearly $4,000.
• The HBA’s Campaign for the Homeless moved up its annual Fall Coat and Warm Clothing Drive to collect donations for shelters housing evacuees, as well as to replenish the items that local charities would donate to relief efforts. Bar associations and individuals from throughout the nation heard about the drive; consequently, the HBA receiv
  -ed donations from San Francisco, Detroit, Minneapolis, Tulsa, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Queens County, New York. The drive collected more than 27,000 coats and other items of clothing from 157 firms and individuals.
• The HBA provided publicity assistance to a group of volunteers that set up an interactive Web site, KatrinaTexas.org, to provide information and resources for hurricane victims, as well as a call center.
• The State Bar of Texas and the
  HBA Bankruptcy Section developed a program to provide pro bono bankruptcy assistance to hurricane victims.

"I am pleased, but not surprised, at the response of the Houston legal community, as well as the legal communities throughout the Gulf Coast," said HBA President Randall O. Sorrels. "Our members have shown they care deeply about the victims of this disaster, and that they can mobilize quickly to help meet their needs."
When Hurricane Rita threatened the Houston area a month after Hurricane Katrina, the HBA leadership was concerned that solo practitioners, who make up 27 percent of our membership, may not have disaster plans for their offices. Consequently, the HBA immediately communicated via email with its members to provide examples of disaster plans for small offices and other resources.

Editor’s Note: The examples cited in this article are only representative of the countless efforts of the Houston legal community to help those in need. Stories of our members’ generosity could fill issues for a year.

Fred A. Simpson is a partner at Jackson Walker L.L.P. and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Maxine Goodman is a professor at South Texas College of Law and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Andrea Vogelsang is an associate in the health care and commercial litigation sections of McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC.

Tara Shockley is the communications director for the Houston Bar Association.

Text is punctuated without italics.

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