Attorneys who volunteer 25 or more hours with the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Hurricane Sandy Response Program can be exempted from the state’s mandatory
pro bono service requirements.
The New Jersey Supreme Court granted an emergent request from the association and said attorneys who can certify 25 or more hours of volunteer service per year through the association's program are eligible to be exempted from mandatory
pro bono assignments.
“It is the character of natural disasters that they are unpredictable and that the response to them must be immediate,” Judge Glenn Grant, acting administrative director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, wrote in the letter granting the two-year program approval.
State bar association leaders were pleased with the development, especially since there is still a critical need for additional volunteers.
“This is excellent news. We are grateful for the Court’s action. The requests for legal help from the state’s residents in the wake of Hurricane Sandy have been staggering. Though it has been over two months since the storm, we continue to receive new requests for help every day. We hope this development will encourage more attorneys to volunteer their time to help those in need of legal guidance and assistance related to the storm,” said McCann.
In the days after Hurricane Sandy, the state bar association launched a toll-free helpline for members of the public facing legal questions following the storm. Dozens of new calls come in each week, state bar officials said. Hundreds of requests for help are pending, as officials have sought to match up citizens with a volunteer attorneys.
Attorneys claiming the
pro bono exemption based on volunteering 25 or more hours in 2012 or 2013, or both, will have to submit a detailed certification to the state bar association, as well as certify their eligibility on the annual attorney registration form.
To volunteer
fill out this form.