Lawyers Needed to Assist Smokey Mountain Fire Victims

NASHVILLE – December 1, 2016 – In response to the devastating wildfires in Gatlinburg and Sevier County, the Tennessee Bar Association is partnering with the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS), Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) and the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission to help those affected with their legal needs.

Attorneys are needed across the state who can help these efforts. Lawyers in East Tennessee who can volunteer in-person at a legal clinic should contact Kathryn Ellis with LAET at kellis@laet.org or 865-637-0484.

For those who want to help all across the state, there are additional options. Attorneys are needed to volunteer to answer emailed questions on the TN Free Legal Answers website or respond to calls and messages received on the HELP4TN legal helpline. Lawyers interested in volunteering with TN Free Legal Answers can sign up directly on the website at tn.freelegalanswers.org. Others willing to respond to calls from the HELP4TN legal helpline can sign up via the Disaster Legal Assistance Volunteer Form online at www.tba.org/volunteer-for-disaster-legal-assistance.

Training resources and other materials for attorney volunteers are available on the TBA’s Disaster Legal Assistance web page at http://www.tba.org/info/disaster-relief-assistance. The TBA’s Young Lawyers Division Disaster Relief Committee has also been activated, and will be assisting with volunteer recruitment and coordination efforts. To volunteer, complete the Disaster Legal Assistance Volunteer Form online at www.tba.org/volunteer-for-disaster-legal-assistance.