Students Apply Legal Skills in New Orleans

As the physical rebuilding of New Orleans progresses, the city's legal system is still in the recovery stages. Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina hit, its victims continue to need legal assistance on civil matters and criminal charges.

University at Buffalo Law School students spent one week last month aiding New Orleans residents with legal concerns. This is the first time a UB Law midsemester "bridge course" has involved national disaster recovery efforts.

"I should have known about all the legal backlog of work that needs to be done so people can rebuild their homes and reacquire their land," said UB Law third-year student Elliot Kowalski, who was one of 29 students who participated in the volunteer work.

Among devastation and destruction and in tight working conditions, UB Law students assisted citizens through the city's public-defender unit, New Orleans Legal Assistance Council (NOLAC) and the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

Students working together to provide legal assistance

"They're still putting out fires in terms of legal work," said Tatiana Markel, another third-year UB Law student who went on the trip.

The students assisted lawyers in day-to-day matters, such as evictions and title transfers that had gotten "pushed to the bottom of the barrel," Markel said. "We were there to do whatever we could to lighten their load," she said.

The students weren't just spectators; UB Law Professor Suzanne Tomkins said local lawyers put them to work and were appreciative of their efforts. "They just absorbed students and felt grateful they were there," she said.

NOLAC Executive Director Mark Moreau '75, a UB Law graduate, helped coordinate the project. "I think he was delighted we were down there," Tomkins said.

The students were also inspired by the dedication of the attorneys they worked with, many of whom had problems of their own stemming from Katrina.

"It was refreshing to see attorneys so passionate about their work who were not going to get a lot of money," said third-year law student Regina Readling, who, like Kowalski and Markel, will work at a corporate law firm in New York City after graduation. "I hope I carry what I learned with me."

The three-credit bridge course was the brainchild of Tomkins and fellow UB Law professors Margaret Phillips and Sara Faherty, who had heard a presentation by Loyola University New Orleans College of Law officials on similar legal assistance. The course included two weeks of classes on affordable-housing case law and the government's role in responding to disasters. The students said they learned more than they had expected to.

"The biggest shock by far was the devastation still there," Markel said. "It was as if Hurricane Katrina occurred yesterday."

A view of the devistation from above

Students said they got emotional when they realized they couldn't prevent some elderly homeowners from losing their homes. "City Hall basically told me to leave, saying there's nothing they can do," Markel said of one foreclosure proceeding.

Hearing how detained defendants were shackled and arraigned over closed-circuit television was also upsetting to students. "The prisoners are instructed not to speak, and if they speak, their bail automatically goes up," Kowalski said. "Due process in Louisiana does not exist," believes Markel.

Despite the costs associated with the trip, students weren't deterred and held fund-raisers, collecting enough to cover about half of their expenses for the trip. Hodgson Russ LLP, Damon Morey LLP, BarBri, the Erie County Bar Foundation and UB Law all supported the effort.

Kowalski hopes area law firms will contribute to a scholarship fund so students can afford to volunteer on projects like this one. "If we could send 60 (people), as some schools sent, we could do so much more," he said.

Third-year Burton Phillips produced a documentary video on the New Orleans project for a class presentation.

The need for legal aid in New Orleans – and elsewhere – won't end anytime soon, Tomkins said.

"We're not asking for major disasters," she said, "but it's good to model a class after, and a bridge between semesters is a great period of time to do it in."