New Orleans legal system

[Robert O'Brien]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Foltin" <foltinr at ajc.org>
To: <Religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 4:26 PM
Subject: New Orleans legal system


> Tangentially apropos of the interesting but assuredly academic discussion 
> of
> Governor Blanco's call for prayer, here is an e-mail I received this
> afternoon detailing the very real -- and mind-boggling -- implications of
> the catastrophe for area lawyers, judges and the legal system.
>
> Richard Foltin
> The American Jewish Committee
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________
> This is an email from a law professor at Southern University Law Center in
> Baton Rouge
> (she sent it to an ethics lawyers' listserv and it's made the rounds from
> there...)
>
>
> 5,000 - 6,000 lawyers (1/3 of the lawyers in Louisiana) have lost their
> offices, their libraries, their computers with all information thereon,
> their client files - possibly their clients, as one attorney who
> e-mailed me noted. As I mentioned before, they are scattered from
> Florida to Arizona and have nothing to return to. Their children's
> schools are gone and, optimistically, the school systems in 8
> parishes/counties won't be re-opened until after December. They must
> re-locate their lives.
>
> Our state supreme court is under some water - with all appellate files
> and evidence folders/boxes along with it. The 5th Circuit Court of
> Appeals building is under some water - with the same effect. Right now
> there may only be 3-4 feet of standing water but, if you think about it,
> most files are kept in the basements or lower floors of courthouses.
> What effect will that have on the lives of citizens and lawyers
> throughout this state and this area of the country? And on the law?
>
> The city and district courts in as many as 8 parishes/counties are under
> water, as well as 3 of our circuit courts - with evidence/files at each
> of them ruined. The law enforcement offices in those areas are under
> water - again, with evidence ruined. 6,000 prisoners in 2 prisons and
> one juvenile facility are having to be securely relocated. We already
> have over-crowding at most Louisiana prisons and juvenile facilities.
> What effect will this have? And what happens when the evidence in their
> cases has been destroyed? Will the guilty be released upon the
> communities? Will the innocent not be able to prove their innocence?
>
> Our state bar offices are under water. Our state disciplinary offices
> are under water - again with evidence ruined. Of particular interest to
> you...our state disciplinary offices are located on Veteran's Blvd. in
> Metairie. Those of you who have been watching the news, they continue to
> show Veteran's Blvd. It's the shot with the destroyed Target store and
> shopping center under water and that looks like a long canal. Our
> Committee on Bar Admissions is located there and would have been housing
> the bar exams which have been turned in from the recent July bar exam
> (this is one time I'll pray the examiners were late in turning them in
> -
> we were set to meet in 2 weeks to go over the results). Will all of
> those new graduates have to retake the bar exam?
>
> Two of the 4 law schools in Louisiana are located in New Orleans (Loyola
> and Tulane - the 2 private ones that students have already paid about
> $8,000+ for this semester to attend). Another 1,000+ lawyers-to-be whose
> lives have been detoured. I've contacted professors at both schools but
> they can't reach anyone at those schools and don't know the amount of
> damage they've taken. Certainly, at least, this semester is over. I'm
> trying to reach the Chancellor's at Southern and LSU here in Baton Rouge
> to see if there's anything we can do to take in the students and/or the
> professors. I think I mentioned before, students from out of state have
> beens stranded at at least 2 of the other universities in New Orleans -
> they're moving up floor after floor as the water rises. Our local news
> station received a call from some medical students at Tulane Medical
> Center who were now on the 5th floor of the dormitories as the water had
> risen. One of them had had a heart attack and they h! ad no medical
> supplies and couldn't reach anyone - 911 was busy, local law enforcement
> couldn't be reached, they were going through the phone book and reached
> a news station 90 miles away!! It took the station almost 45 minutes to
> finally find someone with FEMA to try to get in to them!!
>
> And, then, there are the clients whose files are lost, whose cases are
> stymied. Their lives, too, are derailed. Of course, the vast majority
> live in the area and that's the least of their worries. But, the New
> Orleans firms also have a large national and international client base.
> For example, I received an e-mail from one attorney friend who I work
> with on some crucial domestic violence (spousal and child) cases around
> the nation - those clients could be seriously impacted by the loss, even
> temporarily, of their attorney - and he can't get to them and is having
> difficulty contacting the many courts around the nation where his cases
> are pending. Large corporate clients may have their files blowing in the
> wind where the high rise buildings had windows blown out.
>
> I woke up this morning to the picture of Veteran's Blvd which made me
> think of my students who just took the bar. My thoughts wandered from
> there to the effect on the Disciplinary Offices and I thought of you.
> Then my thoughts continued on. I'm sure I'm still missing a big part of
> the future picture. It's just devastating. Can you imagine something of
> this dimension in your state?
>
> Michelle
>
>
> Professor Michelle Ghetti
> Southern University Law Center
> Baton Rouge, LA 70813
> 225-771-4900
>
>
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