FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2025
Contact:
Amanda Brown, Disaster Legal Services Program (DLS) Director
American Bar Association
Young Lawyers Division
amanda@lagniappelawlab.org
Los Angeles, February 4, 2025 –A free legal help hotline is now available for California Wildfires survivors.
The hotline is available to connect survivors to free legal services in qualifying counties who cannot afford an attorney. Survivors can call 888-382-3406.
Hotline callers may get help with legal issues like:
- FEMA and SBA financial benefits
- Home repair contracts and property insurance claims
- Re-doing wills and other important legal documents destroyed in the disaster
- Price gouging, consumer fraud, or identity theft
- Landlord or tenant problems, or threats of foreclosure
- Disability-related access to federal, state, and local disaster programs
Survivors can call the hotline during the following times:
- Monday (9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
- Tuesday (9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
- Wednesday (9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
- Thursday (9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)
- Friday (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
Hotline partners cannot help in all cases. For example, we cannot take cases where a settlement could include legal fees or an award. But we can refer those cases to other legal help.
For up-to-date information on free legal services for survivors, media members can contact our partners in these languages: English, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
The Disaster Legal Services (DLS) program works with state and local partners to provide free legal help for low-income disaster survivors. The service is a partnership between the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLSLA), Community Legal Aid SoCal, and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA).
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About the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
The Young Lawyers Division is the national home for the new and young attorney, providing members tools to navigate the early years of a career. To serve as the home of the young lawyer, the Division champions professional development, leadership, policy advancement, and service to the profession with a dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its efforts.
About the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Our mission is helping people before, during and after disasters. Our core values and goals help us achieve it. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employs more than 20,000 people nationwide. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we have 10 regional offices located across the country. We leverage a tremendous capacity to coordinate within the federal government to make sure America is equipped to prepare for and respond to disasters.
About Community Legal Aid Socal
Community Legal Aid SoCal is dedicated to meeting the legal needs of low-income people throughout Orange and Southeast Los Angeles Counties. With an emphasis on innovation, language access, and a holistic approach to client care, we support clients with the following services: Evaluation, Advice, and Counsel, Clinics, Workshops, and Self-Help Centers, Direct Representation, Impact Litigation, and Policy Advocacy.
About Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles is a nonprofit law firm that protects and advances the rights of the most underserved – leveling the playing field and ensuring that everyone can have access to the justice system. Every year, LAFLA provides free, high-quality legal services to more than 100,000 people living in poverty across Greater Los Angeles. Our unique combination of neighborhood offices, self-help centers at courthouses, and domestic violence clinics puts LAFLA on the front lines in vulnerable communities, and at the forefront of change.
About Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLSLA)
Through a combination of individual representation, high impact litigation and public policy advocacy, NLSLA combats the immediate and long-lasting effects of poverty and expands access to health, opportunity, and justice in Los Angeles’ diverse neighborhoods.
