Lawyers Help Hurricane Victims

Volunteer lawyers assist hurricane victims in Lumberton.

The North Carolina Bar Association’s efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Matthew took on a personal touch on Saturday, Nov. 19, when volunteer attorneys provided free legal advice to 35 individuals at West Baptist Church and Sandy Grove Baptist Church in Lumberton.

The event represented the combined efforts of the NCBA, the Lumber River Council of Governments and Legal Aid of North Carolina.

Local attorneys joined with volunteers from other parts of the state to provide free legal advice to hurricane victims and assist them in registering with FEMA.

“Working together, we helped a lot of people in one of the state’s most devastated communities, Robeson County,” said Brooks Jaffa, who has spearheaded the NCBA’s relief efforts in conjunction with his duties as ABA YLD District 9 representative. “I am impressed that so many members of the NCBA, including President-elect Caryn McNeill and YLD Chair Matt Cordell, volunteered at this amazing event.”

The effort to assist hurricane victims throughout the eastern half of the state began shortly after Hurricane Matthew struck in early October, and it will continue indefinitely through the Disaster Legal Services program which currently covers 45 counties.

Click here to learn more about Disaster Legal Services; click here to volunteer.

And click here to register for the Disaster Legal Services CLE on Monday, Dec. 5. This CLE program is being offered at no cost to Disaster Legal Services volunteers, made possible through a grant from the NCBA Foundation Endowment.

All participants in this CLE program will be expected to assist at least one Hurricane Matthew client through the Disaster Legal Services program.