VOLUNTEER ATTORNEYS RESPONDING IN THE EVENT OF A NATURAL DISASTER

Iowa Legal Aid provides free, high quality legal education, advice and representation to low-income and elderly Iowans with civil legal problems. Natural disasters (ice storms, flooding, tornadoes) occur quite often in Iowa with devastating consequences to those living in its wake. Having an attorney available to address the critical legal needs of those affected by the disaster can make a huge difference in disaster survivors ability to recover from the disaster. If you would like a meaningful, dynamic and professional volunteer opportunity, please consider volunteering with Iowa Legal Aids Coordinated Disaster Response Project.

Key responsibilities:

• Assist with FEMA applications and appeals, SBA loans, insurance claims, disaster unemployment applications, food stamp applications, and other disaster assistance program applications.
• Assist with landlord-tenant and mobile home park issues, mortgage and foreclosure issues, real estate contracts, and other housing issues.
• Assist with home repair contractor issues, home repair and contractor scams, mechanics lien issues, municipal code enforcement issues.
• Assist with buyouts of flood damaged real estate, farm issues, bankruptcy, and income tax issues.

Qualifications:

• Volunteers must be currently licensed to practice law in the State of Iowa or be eligible for emeritus attorney status.
• Disasters are unpredictable and the need for attorneys will depend on when and where the disasters happen. Volunteers will need to be flexible and able to offer assistance on short-term notice in the event of a disaster.

Training and Support:

• Volunteers will have access to training (in-person and webinar) on issue spotting common legal problems and substantive law trainings prior to any disaster.
• Volunteers will have access to free on-line resources through Iowa Legal Aids website, probono.net, and Iowa Legal Aids mobile app.
• Volunteers will have access to co-counseling in person, by telephone and by email.
• Volunteers will receive notification of available trainings provided at no cost by Iowa Legal Aid
• Volunteers will be covered under Iowa Legal Aids malpractice coverage.

Time Commitment:

• The time commitment will depend on the scope of the disaster, the volunteers ability and Iowa Legal Aids needs.

Position Location:

• Most cases are placed externally and service is provided by the volunteer attorney at his or her law office.
• Volunteers needing office space to perform volunteer activities or wishing to only work on in-house cases may make arrangements with a regional Iowa Legal Aid office.
• Iowa Legal Aid offices are located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Mason City, Ottumwa, Sioux City and Waterloo.
• Volunteers may be needed to staff tables at Disaster Recovery Centers and local community and agency resource fairs.

Position Benefits:

• Work with dedicated, passionate and collegial staff and volunteers.
• Positively impact members of your community.

If you are interested in this volunteer position, please contact Iowa Legal Aid at 1-800-532-1275 (Jasmina Popaja) or at [email protected]

For more information about Iowa Legal Aid, go to http://www.iowalegalaid.org/ and http://iowalegalaidfoundation.org/

Please note that all positions may not be available at all times or locations nearest you. For example, a particular position may have been filled or we may have limited capacity to engage volunteers with certain types of skills. Even though we cannot guarantee a placement to every prospective volunteer, we will do our best to match the applicants skills and interests with our present needs.

Iowa Legal Aid is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants upon request

Auxiliary aids and services are available in alternative formats