The Equal Justice Works Katrina Initiative has been established to address the many legal needs in areas hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This new program will place lawyers and law students at nonprofit organizations located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama in order to help the hundreds of thousands of people left without homes, jobs, access to health care and social services due to the damage from the hurricanes.

Equal Justice Works has obtained a $1 million matching grant from the JEHT Foundation to sponsor public interest attorneys to work in the Gulf Coast region for up to two years, providing direct legal services to Gulf Coast residents in need and generating pro bono opportunities for lawyers and law students.

Since our last progress report on February 9, Equal Justice Works has announced that 10 AmeriCorps Attorneys and 65 law students will provide legal services to the Gulf Coast community, thanks to a $298,075 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. With this award, Equal Justice Works will administer two AmeriCorps programs related to the disaster recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: the Katrina Pro Bono Legal Corps (PBLC) and Katrina Summer Corps.

The 10 AmeriCorps Attorneys serving with the Katrina PBLC will be placed at nonprofit organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to help the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted due to the damage from Hurricane Katrina. These attorneys will recruit hundreds of law students and lawyers to provide many types of disaster-related legal services to those affected by the hurricane. The following organizations will serve as host organizations and are currently recruiting AmeriCorps Attorneys for the Katrina PBLC:

Legal Services Alabama (Montgomery, AL)
Two AmeriCorps Attorneys will design pro bono opportunities to assist with the delivery of legal services to victims of Hurricane Katrina. One will help evacuees in temporary housing overcome legal barriers to securing permanent housing. The other will direct statewide disaster hotline initiatives and provide community outreach and education.

Louisiana Bar Foundation (Baton Rouge, LA)
Two AmeriCorps Attorneys will recruit, train and coordinate law student volunteers to staff the Louisiana Disaster Legal Hotline, housed at Louisiana State University Law School. The hotline has received thousands of calls since its inception shortly after Katrina. AmeriCorps Attorneys will also play a vital role in establishing a volunteer network of attorneys across the state.

North Mississippi Rural Legal Services (Oxford, Jackson & Hattiesburg, MS)
Four AmeriCorps Attorneys will help expand legal services to hurricane victims in Mississippi. The AmeriCorps Attorneys will serve in Oxford, Jackson and Hattiesburg to coordinate pro bono efforts across the state.

The Pro Bono Project (New Orleans, LA)
Two AmeriCorps Attorneys will serve in New Orleans to increase access to legal services for Katrina survivors. One attorney will serve as liaison to the area law firms and area law schools and will engage volunteers to address housing, family law and bankruptcy issues. The second attorney will develop educational forums and engage volunteers to serve people who do not speak English fluently and people who are homeless.

In addition, Equal Justice Works will add 65 positions to its Summer Corps program for law students who represent the nation's leading law schools. Summer Corps members will provide disaster-related legal services to low-income individuals, families and communities in the Gulf Coast region who would not otherwise have access to justice.

To date, Equal Justice Works has raised more than $900,000, which will be matched dollar for dollar by the JEHT Foundation. Equal Justice Works thanks the following donors for their contributions to fund the Equal Justice Works Katrina Initiative:

• Association of Corporate Counsel
  
• Corporation for National and Community Service
  
• Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
  
• Greenberg Traurig, LLP
  
• Latham & Watkins LLP
  
• Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C.
  
• Pfizer Inc
  
• Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
  

Thanks to the generosity of ALM, public service advertisements recognizing the contributions from law firms and corporations have appeared in various ALM publications over the past several weeks. These public service advertisements will continue during the next several months.