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Where to Find Answers about Courts,
Lawyers
by Robert Ambrogi - Editor
BullsEye Newsletter: September 2005
In the path of Hurricane Katrina, law offices were
lost, courthouses were closed and dockets were suspended. The
impact on the legal system is beyond measure.
Lawyers throughout the country were left with questions about
the status of cases and the whereabouts of peers. To help you
in finding the answers, we offer this guide to essential information
sources on the Web.
Federal Courts
Congress passed emergency legislation allowing
the federal district and bankruptcy courts in New Orleans to
relocate their operations to Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Houma.
Filing deadlines in the district court were suspended.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appellate
cases from Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, relocated to Houston
for three months, and then will move to Baton Rouge. It extended
to Oct. 3 all filing deadlines from Aug. 24 to Sept. 30.
More information on specific federal courts can be found at:
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U.S. District Court, E.D. Louisiana, www.laed.uscourts.gov
Emergency filings can be sent to Baton Rouge or Lafayette.
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State Courts
As of September 16th, the Louisiana Supreme
Court and the state's Fourth and Fifth Circuit Courts of
Appeal remain closed. Local courts in New Orleans are closed
until at least Oct. 1. The governor ordered the suspension
of all legal deadlines until at least Sept. 25.
In Mississippi, the Supreme Court ordered all filing deadlines
between Aug. 29 and Oct. 31 extended by 90 days.
In Texas, the state Supreme Court issued an order authorizing
displaced lawyers to practice law there without fear of engaging
in unauthorized practice. The order can be found at:
www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/advisories/katrina_advisory.htm.
Additional information on state courts can be found at:
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Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, www.la-fcca.org
Located in Baton Rouge, its Web site is serving as a repository
for information on court orders, closures and dockets.
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National bar associations are coordinating
relief efforts within the legal community. Key sites include:
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Associations – State
The Web site of the Louisiana State Bar Association,
www.lsba.org, quickly became a leading portal for information
on Katrina's impact on lawyers, law firms and clients. It
includes messages boards, court orders, disaster training
manuals and comprehensive links to legal, government and
private resources.
State bars throughout the country devoted sections of their
sites to Katrina information and relief. For first-hand information
from affected states, useful state bar sites include:
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Associations – Local
Local bars across the country reacted to Katrina through
their Web sites. Among those with useful information and
resources are:
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Technology
Several sites provide information and resources
related to law office technology, practice management and
disaster/data recovery:
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Blogs and Message Boards
Several sites serve as virtual bulletin boards
for posting announcements, requests for assistance and offers
of help. They include:
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Disaster Training
The Louisiana State Bar Association compiled training materials
to help lawyers provide legal assistance to victims of
Hurricane Katrina. These are:
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Law Schools
Law schools throughout the country responded with offers
of help for students and faculty displaced by Katrina.
Key sites for information on law schools affected by Katrina
are:
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Insurance
The insurance industry has created the Hurricane Insurance Information Center, www.disasterinformation.org,
to provide information for consumers affected by Hurricane Katrina.
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