skym wrote:

I'm surprised someone hasn't yet figured out a way to blame this all on
the trial lawyers. They must be somehow responsible.

copied from a lawyer friends email from Dallas

I know your hearts, in particular, are for lawyers. Think of this...

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. 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 been 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 had 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. 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?

Southern University Law Center
Baton Rouge, LA 70813