With the sun shining and Hurricane Harvey moved out of Houston, some firms have reopened Houston offices for lawyers and staff who can drive there safely. But with flooded-out Texans continuing to pour into shelters, some Houston lawyers are fitting their legal work into days filled with volunteer tasks such as setting up cots at large shelters in Houston or helping neighbors salvage belongings from flooded houses.

“You are sitting at home, watching TV, saying I have to do something,” said Kelly Rose, a partner in Baker Botts in Houston, whose home in the River Oaks neighborhood in Houston was not affected by flood waters from the nation's most extreme rain event ever.

On Monday, even as Hurricane Harvey continued to pelt the Houston area with rain, Kelly said she donated a load of items to a big American Red Cross shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. That night, she had her husband drive her back and she worked an overnight volunteer shift at the GRB helping to distribute clothes, shoes, diapers and formula to Harvey victims.