Pro bono legal assistance is a lifeline for many disaster survivors and a critical component of disaster response. The volunteers who do this vital work come from a wide variety of practice areas. You don’t have to have a deep background in disaster law to help your community in the wake of a disaster, but it does help to know the basics.

This volume brings together some of the United States’ most knowledgeable experts on disaster law to provide a critical resource for pro bono attorneys and other stakeholders to understand the essentials of disaster law practice. Part One of the volume discusses Disaster Legal Services, the partnership between the ABA Young Lawyers Division and FEMA which is a leading facilitator of pro bono legal disaster response in the US, and the Disaster Recovery Clinic at Hofstra University, a model for how legal education can contribute to disaster response. Part One also covers strategies for managing compassion fatigue and the psychological impact of disaster response work.

Part Two provides background and guidance on key issues that pro bono disaster response attorneys will encounter:

• Equitable access for non-English speakers and other marginalized groups;
• FEMA Individual Assistance Programs;
• The FEMA Individual and Households Program;
• Common complications in documenting homeownership;
• Flood insurance claims; and
• Tenant rights and post-disaster challenges for renters.