This past summer, I had the pleasure of working at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles (NLSLA) on their Disaster Assistance Project (DAP) through the WLALA Fran Kandel Fellowship. My fellowship project was to develop a Disaster Relief Guide that NLSLA will use at its disaster clinics. This guide would serve as a reference for attorneys, volunteers, and staff assisting at these clinics. It covers legal areas that a disaster may implicate, such as Tenant Rights, Homeowner Rights, Public Benefits, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Consumer Law, Education Law, Family Law, Probate and Estate Planning, and many others.

I spent most of the summer creating the guide, which involved learning about disaster assistance and the types of legal help NLSLA provides. Disaster work is a developing legal area that can evolve with each disaster. My work involved researching different areas of the law and developing a sense for how much information to include in the guide without making it cumbersome. I also attended various workshops on disaster assistance and attended office hours at sister organizations in other states to listen in on their FEMA appeals experiences. I learned a lot about different types of law and how disasters can trigger legal issues in unexpected ways within each practice area. As I developed the guide, it became clear why there is a growing need within the disaster legal space: survivors can face a shocking number of legal issues post-disaster, and the guide can serve as a consolidated resource for volunteers to maximize their assistance.

Although most of my time was dedicated to the guide, a small but mighty part of it was spent attending FEMA Clinics in Altadena to better understand the communities we were serving. The fellowship began towards the end of the FEMA claim period for the Eaton fires, so volunteers would usually meet with disaster survivors to discuss their FEMA appeals. It was impactful to be in Altadena and see the community’s resilience. Through these clinics, I learned how to process FEMA claims and manage a client’s case, and I got familiar with the types of questions people bring to the clinics. I also developed my understanding of the discretionary nature of FEMA aid and observed collaboration with the social services team, who had alternative recovery options when legal avenues failed. It was incredibly rewarding to learn from the clinic experience and to serve the Altadena community.

I was also able to observe disaster response in its early stages when we began working on the Boyle Heights Lineage Fire. At the onset, I learned that our disaster response was not limited to wildfires and earthquakes; facility fires counted, too. It was interesting to see how concerns shifted at each stage of the fire. First, it was the smoke, then the smell of rotting food and rodents, and ultimately an efficient cleanup response. The DAP team was working with the city and county to staff mini resource clinics where the affected community could go to obtain legal information. At our weekly check-in meetings, I observed how the attorneys anticipated the legal questions and concerns that could arise early in the disaster timeline versus a few weeks from now. This process informed the types of flyers and the information we would disseminate at these clinics. This experience helped fill some gaps in my knowledge of how disaster work begins and evolves while the disaster is ongoing.  

Overall, my experience at NLSLA this summer gave me a comprehensive understanding of what disaster relief work entails and the growing need for attention in this space. Additionally, I am grateful that NLSLA offered a variety of programs for interns to attend across different practice areas. My summer also included lunch-hour conversations with practicing attorneys and judges, the opportunity to observe family and criminal court in person, and sitting in on an expert deposition over Zoom. I thank the DAP team for their warm welcome and support throughout the summer, with special recognition to the women attorneys from whom I learned the most about disaster work, Julie Rattray and Ana Raya. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to have worked under these two exemplary attorneys, who demonstrated amazing leadership and an unwavering commitment to the communities of Altadena and Boyle Heights.

Lastly, the Fran Kandel Fellowship provided more than just an opportunity to learn at a non-profit this summer; it also allowed me to immerse myself in the legal world through a variety of offerings from WLALA. I am grateful to the WLALA team, especially Judge Ostiller and Anabel Sanchez, who consistently invited me, checked in on me, and made WLALA feel welcoming. Through WLALA, I have attended fundraising events, galas, and awards ceremonies, where I have networked and listened to the inspirational stories of keynote speakers and awardees. Being in these spaces has allowed me to see a different side of what I can accomplish as an attorney, and what it means to be involved and supportive of women in the law. I hope to one day have a full-circle moment and provide a law student with the type of opportunity and support I found at WLALA.