September 21, 2001
Toll Free Number: 1-888-541-1900
NEW JERSEY STATE BAR ASSOCIATION AND BAR FOUNDATION ACTIVATE MASS
DISASTER RESPONSE PROGRAM FOR WORLD TRADE CENTER VICTIMS
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ The New Jersey State Bar Association and Bar
Foundation have established a Mass Disaster Response Program hotline
number, 1-888-541-1900, for victims and family members of the World
Trade Center disaster. The program provides relevant information to
disaster victims about how to find available assistance and resources,
how the legal system works with respect to individual needs, and how to
find a lawyer and address legal issues in probate, workers'
compensation, insurance, personal injury, bankruptcy and other areas.
"Although the nature of this disaster is unprecedented and the full
scope of the legal issues unknown, the program is designed to help and
direct those in need to the appropriate services," said NJSBA President
Daniel M. Waldman.
Waldman praised the outpouring of support from the volunteer attorneys
already in the program and the many who have come forward since the
tragedy.
Any attorney who is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association
should contact the NJSBA's program coordinator, Rita Seborowski at
rseborowski@njsba.com for information about the program or to become a
volunteer.
Prospective volunteers are screened by the Administrative Office of the
Courts' Office of Attorneys Ethics and Committee on Attorney
Advertising. Each successful applicant signs a pledge, promising to
accept no remuneration for disaster-related assistance from persons with
whom they come in contact. To safeguard the program's integrity,
volunteers also promise to make no attorney referrals of such persons,
even upon a victim's request, if remuneration is involved.
The program provides broad legal assistance to victims and their families. It
does not provide legal advice. Program volunteers are
permitted, at their own discretion, to engage in pro bono
representation, thereby establishing a lawyer-client relationship as an
individual attorney or law firm, rather than as a representative of the
Mass Disaster Program. In this event, the client signs a statement that
states that they understand these facts.
The Mass Disaster Response Program was established in 1995 following
complaints about abusive conduct by a small number of New Jersey
attorneys in the aftermath of the Edison pipeline explosion. The program
works closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the New
Jersey Office of Emergency Management, Voluntary Organizations Active in
Disasters in New Jersey and the Red Cross of New Jersey.
The purpose of the NJSBA's Mass Disaster Response Program is to assure
that victims of disasters including floods, fires and explosions have
timely, competent and unpressured access to information about the legal
issues that affect them. NJSBA attorney volunteers stand
ready to serve without compensation in providing this service after
undergoing appropriate screening and training. Besides addressing an
important public need, the program also lets the public see the selfless
dedication of many lawyers.
- NJSBA -
