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Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Law - Impact of Katrina on New Orleans law firms
The National Law Jounral has an interesting story today subtitled "New Orleans' 7,500 lawyers struggle to salvage lives, businesses." Some quotes:
Much of the New Orleans legal community is in shambles following the devastation from Hurricane Katrina.For a personal account of the toll of Katrina, read the entries of long-time New Orleans blogger, Ernie the Attorney.Attorneys and staffers at some law firms were still unaccounted for last week, and office buildings and courthouses -- and the documents inside -- remained soaking under water. * * *
The New Orleans area was home to about 7,500 lawyers, Bodin said, which equals about one-third of the state's attorneys. "Most of the lawyers lost their homes, jobs and maybe their practices," he said.
As most phone and electronic communications remained useless after the barriers protecting the low-lying city failed, law firm leaders and court personnel were struggling to find offices and even housing for their workers.
"We're totally unaware of when we might have access to the building," said Charles Landry, managing partner of Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre's Baton Rouge office. The New Orleans-based firm had 300 people, including 165 attorneys, working at its location on St. Charles Avenue.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 7, 2005 08:56 AM
Posted to General Law Related