Womble Carlyle and Legal Aid Team Up
To Assist Hurricane
Irene Victims
May 8, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. – Womble Carlyle and Legal Aid of
North Carolina have joined together on a pro bono project to assess
the legal needs of Hurricane Irene victims still struggling with
insurance claims, construction scams, mortgage-related problems and
other relief issues eight months after the storm made landfall last
August.
Womble Carlyle and Legal Aid are jointly attempting to determine the
status of overall storm recovery efforts and identify patterns of
critical legal claims. Households should call Legal Aid’s toll-free
Helpline at 1-866-219-5262 to report their disaster-related problems
and receive quick information about insurance, FEMA, mortgage issues
and other relief claims. Helpline staff will conduct a brief
interview, answer questions and help assess the need.
Hurricane Irene, one of the costliest hurricanes on record, struck
the Carolina coast in August 2011 causing tornado, wind, and flood
damage estimated at more than $71 million, not including damage to
agricultural businesses. More than 1,100 homes were destroyed and
many households still have unresolved claims related to Hurricane
Irene damage. Storm victims are also struggling with additional
legal problems, like consumer scams, not directly related to damage
claims.
“Some of the biggest problems caused by a natural disaster like
Irene only surface months after the hurricane leaves the front pages
of the newspaper,” said
Georgiana
Yonuschot, a lawyer at Womble Carlyle. “Claim delays and
denials, scams and the like, can be as devastating as the original
damage,” she added. “As the news cycle moves on, people have less
information just as their thorniest problems are becoming apparent.”
The project will focus on relief issues in the following counties:
Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare,
Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Martin, Northampton, Pamlico,
Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington.
Sue Perry Cole, director of the North Carolina Association of
Community Development Corporations, applauded the effort and stated,
“It’s gratifying to see one of the biggest corporate law firms and
Legal Aid come together in order to evaluate the needs that have
arisen in the wake of Hurricane Irene.”
About Womble Carlyle
Womble Carlyle is a full-service business law firm with a focus on
innovative solutions to client needs. The firm supports the
Association of Corporate Counsel in the ACC Value Challenge, which
seeks to better align legal services with the needs of corporate
clients.
The firm serves clients nationally and globally with more than 550
attorneys in fourteen offices: Atlanta; Charleston, Columbia and
Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle
Park, and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Silicon Valley, Calif., Washington,
D.C.; Tysons Corner, Va.; Baltimore; and Wilmington, Del.
In the community, the firm is the first law firm to receive the
Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award as well as
the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award.
About Legal Aid of North Carolina
Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) is a statewide, nonprofit law
firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to eligible,
low-income residents in all 100 counties of North Carolina. Each
year, LANC provides life-altering solutions to critical and basic
legal problems for over 30,000 households with annual incomes at or
below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.
CONTACT:
Tripp Greason, Pro Bono Director, Womble
Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP, Winston-Salem, N.C., (336) 747-2742,
tgreason@wcsr.com
Sean Driscoll,
Director of Public Relations, Legal Aid of North Carolina, (919) 856-2132,
seand@legalaidnc.org
Disclaimer
The materials contained on this website are for information and
educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.
Also please note that Legal Aid of North Carolina does not provide
legal assistance by E-mail. Contact your Legal Aid of North Carolina
office or a private attorney if you need to speak to an attorney
regarding your particular situation.
See our complete
disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm
that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income
people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove
legal barriers to economic opportunity.