Legal Aid Funding 'Crucial' After Hurricanes, Florida Chief Justice Says
Comments at a congressional hearing in Washington came weeks after President Donald Trump threatened to eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corp.
March 13, 2018 at 03:47 PM
3 minute read
Without Legal Services Corp. funding, many Floridians would have been left in the lurch after Hurricane Irma, the state's chief justice and a Miami legal aid leader said Tuesday during a congressional briefing.
The Washington meeting came weeks after President Donald Trump released a budget calling for the elimination of funding for the national legal aid grant organization. Congress decided instead to keep the annual appropriation at $385 million.
That money, which is awarded via grants to groups with 800 offices around the country, was key to helping low-income Floridians file for federal assistance, resolve landlord-tenant issues, sue fraudulent contractors and deal with other pressing problems after the September storm, panelists said.
“Funding the Legal Services Corp. is crucial when these catastrophes, these disasters hit,” Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga said.
LSC board chair John Levi also announced at the hearing the creation of a national task force to help businesses and emergency management officials work with legal aid groups in the wake of disasters. Labarga will serve on the 30-member task force, which will include LSC leaders and grantees along with emergency management experts and other stakeholders.
Before Hurricane Irma, Legal Services of Greater Miami Inc. partnered with a variety of social services organizations and elected officials to make sure they knew what type of help the group offers, executive director Monica Vigues-Pitan said at the hearing.
That work came in handy when the legal aid organization lost power at its main office in Miami and was rushing to provide aid to hard-hit constituents in the Florida Keys, she said. An online Legal Services intake form allowed organizations like United Way to make referrals for people struggling with applying for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
“It can be very complicated,” Vigues-Pitan said. “We found that people that aren't usually our clients that were sort of just getting by with either fixed income if they're elderly or limited income if they're working poor … all of a sudden they're our clients.”
About 2.6 million Floridians applied for FEMA assistance, Labarga said. Many low-income residents of the Keys live in mobile homes and were denied FEMA aid because they forgot to provide their lot numbers — requiring appeals that added to the need for legal aid.
After those immediate issues, legal aid organizations spend 10 to 15 years dealing with hurricane-related work, said Saundra Brown, director of legal services for East Texas' Lone Star Legal Aid. Her organization only recently wrapped up title-clearing work stemming from 2008's Hurricane Ike, and many low-income clients live without needed repairs for years before asking for legal help in disputes with landlords.
“Something like [Hurricane] Harvey hits like a ton of bricks,” Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht said at the hearing. “You know it's coming … but it's like preparing for the sky to fall. There's no real way to do it.”
In Florida, attorneys who were themselves dealing with storm issues rushed to help elderly clients who were barred from returning to their public housing apartments, Vigues-Pitan said.
“It's inspiring to see when people care so much about helping their community and having an impact,” she said. ”We know that our clients, if we're not there, are going to be much worse off.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllMiami Judge Approves Shaq's $11 Million Settlement to Resolve Astrals Investor Claims
3 minute readA Voyeur Videotaped Them Undressing. Should Cruise Ship Passengers Have to Arbitrate?
3 minute readRead the Document: DOJ Releases Ex-Special Counsel's Report Explaining Trump Prosecutions
3 minute readSupreme Court Wrestles With Disabled Ex-Firefighter's Discrimination Case
Trending Stories
- 1Class Action Settlements Totaled $40B+ Three Years in a Row: 'We’re in a New Era'
- 2Automaker Pleads Guilty and Agrees to $1.6 Billion in Payouts
- 3MLB's Texas Rangers Search For a New GC and a Broadcasting Deal
- 4Does the Treasury Hack Underscore a Big Problem for the Private Sector?
- 5Gen AI Legal Tech Startup Eve Raises $47 Million Series A Investment
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250