The Alabama State Bar Association started a toll-free legal helpline: 800-354-6154. Also dispensing free advice is Legal Services: 866-456-4995.
"For everyone affected by the tornado disaster, we are offering free legal assistance statewide to those who can't otherwise afford it," said Alabama Bar Association President Alyce Spruell. The state bar's Volunteer Lawyers Program, the University of Alabama School of Law and the Tuscaloosa Bar Association conducted walk-in clinics in Tuscaloosa on Thursday for tornado victims.
"We just started but we anticipate helping with insurance claims, perhaps probate claims for those losing a family member, maybe even some domestic family issues -- misplaced families, child visitation issues and the like," said David Rains, a volunteer lawyer from the firm Rosen Harwood in Tuscaloosa More clinics are planned for Birmingham and around the state in coming weeks, sponsored by an array of legal groups, including the state bar association, local bar associations and volunteer lawyer programs.
One of the most pressing legal concerns involves storm victims who are renters of houses, apartments or mobile homes made uninhabitable by the storm, said Lisa Borden, who directs pro bono programs for Baker Donelson in Birmingham.
Alabama law allows a renter to terminate the lease in such a situation by sending a letter to the landlord -- but the renter must do it within 14 days, which would mean a May 11 deadline for those displaced during the April 27 storms, Borden said.
"When you do that, the termination is effective the date you vacated," she said. "And the reason that's important for most folks who have lost everything is that they are entitled to get their security deposit back. For those who have lost everything, that security deposit and any prepaid rent might be a considerable amount of money."
Brochures highlighting the May 11 deadline for terminating a lease have been distributed throughout the affected sites by the Montgomery-based lawyers' organization Alabama Appleseed. "This kind of disaster is going to bring out all kinds of needs, including legal needs," Borden said. "And we will be here."
Here are some upcoming legal assistance clinics sponsored by the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Birmingham Bar Association:
> May 12, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Faith Chapel Christian Center, 100 Lexington Street, Birmingham.
> May 24, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.- 6 p.m., Mount Moriah Baptist Church, 316 Avenue U, Birmingham.
> May 26, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m.-6 p.m., Bethel Baptist Church, 639 9th Way, Pleasant Grove.