Reconsidering Lawyers’ Ethical Obligations in the Wake of a Disaster

As Hurricane Katrina barreled towards the Gulf Coast in the last days of August 2005, few were truly prepared for the destruction to property and lives that would be left in its wake. In the storm’s aftermath, entire communities of citizens faced rebuilding their homes and their lives as they had known them. Like the communities at large, many members of the Gulf Coast’s legal profession had not prepared their offices or their practices for such a catastrophic event as Hurricane Katrina. As a result, in addition to the challenge of rebuilding their personal lives, these professionals faced the additional challenge of attempting to rebuild their professional lives.Years have passed since Hurricane Katrina forever changed the lives of those in the legal communities of the Gulf Coast. Gulf Coast lawyers learned many lessons from that particular disaster. But, what, if anything, did law firms and individual lawyers do to ensure that the next disaster would not paralyze their professional lives? Did they implement disaster plans? Did they learn from history so as to avoid repeating it?These questions remain critically important for lawyers in the Gulf Coast region, where storms threaten every hurricane season. They should, however, be important to lawyers nationwide. The entire country witnessed Hurricane Katrina’s impact and lawyers anywhere could, one day, face their own disaster. Given the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, are a lawyer’s professional obligations heightened? After enduring (at worst) or witnessing (at best) a natural disaster’s impact on legal communities, are lawyers nationwide on notice of the potential problems accompanying any disaster? If so, what obligations do they have to take action to protect their clients from such problems? Has a lawyer, who is on notice but who takes no action, violated his ethical obligations?Using the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, this article considers these questions with a look back to the legal ethics issues that arose in the storm’s aftermath, and to the subsequent responses by governments and professional organizations. In particular, it addresses the post-disaster issues associated with: (1) the legal deadlines threatened and/or missed because of Hurricane Katrina; (2) the unauthorized practice of law by displaced Gulf Coast lawyers and those from elsewhere who visited the Gulf Coast region to offer pro bono legal advice or assistance to disaster victims; and (3) the ethical obligations of volunteer lawyers offering pro bono legal advice and assistance to disaster victims via hotlines.Additionally, this article looks forward to the post-Katrina world to consider some of the ethical obligations imposed upon lawyers nationwide in light of the lessons learned from that particular natural disaster. It focuses on a lawyer’s ethical duties to prepare for disaster and how a failure to do so may, in some circumstances, violate some jurisdictions’ rules of professional conduct. Additionally, it addresses the ethical -- and perhaps moral -- obligation of lawyers to offer pro bono advice and/or assistance in the wake of a disaster.