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A gaggle of regulation students at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law are serving to with the authorized aspect of restoration after the devastating wildfires in Maui in August.
The students are volunteering by the Pepperdine Caruso Law Pro Bono Program, which is a part of the college’s Clinical Education Program.
“Under the leadership of Professors Jeff Baker and Peter Fendel, about 20 Pepperdine Law students volunteered their time and legal skills to assist Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) in providing assistance to citizens of Maui who lost their homes and/or businesses in the wildfires,” Caruso School of Law scholar Matteson Landau advised Fox News Digital.
Landau is a second-year regulation scholar initially from Texas.
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The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation is a company devoted to defending and advancing Native Hawaiian identification and tradition, says its web site. It does so by “integrating Kanaka Maoli (indigenous Hawaiian) values into the practice of law and advocacy in courts and before administrative agencies.”
Pepperdine’s students have been significantly impressed to help these in Hawaii partly due to the college’s latest historical past.
The wildfires in August in Maui destroyed hundreds of houses. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
“The Pepperdine community knows firsthand the tragic effects of wildfires, as our own campus and city was affected by the Malibu Woolsey Fire in 2018,” mentioned Landau. Pepperdine University is situated in Malibu.
After that fireplace, Baker “was inspired to develop a legal aid program for disaster relief, and students at that time learned how to file FEMA applications and draft appeal letters,” Landau mentioned.
Pepperdine Law students then used this coaching to help with the continued restoration from Hurricane Harvey, she mentioned.
That work continues at present with the state of affairs in Hawaii.
“The Hawaiian people are our Pacific neighbors, and we will always offer support and Aloha, just as the people of Hawaii would do for us,” Fendel, government director of externship and pro bono applications at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, mentioned in a press launch. “We are honored as a university and a law school to serve the Native Hawaiian population of Maui.”
Under the supervision of NHLC attorneys, “Pepperdine Law students labored in pairs to help shoppers file FEMA purposes and draft FEMA attraction letters,” Landau advised Fox News Digital.
“We are honored as a university and a law school to serve the Native Hawaiian population of Maui.”
The students’ work with NHLC was particularly useful due to Hawaii’s “very strict rules prohibiting lawyers from other states from providing legal assistance,” mentioned Landau.
Law students, nevertheless, are usually not thought-about attorneys. They’re allowed to do authorized work in Hawaii so long as they’re beneath the supervision of a Hawaiian legal professional, she mentioned.
“Because of this rule, it was especially important to provide law student volunteer support,” mentioned Landau.
Pepperdine University was impacted by a wildfire in 2018 — which impressed a regulation professor to create a authorized assist program for regulation students. (Ron Hall/Pepperdine University)
She continued, “The number of Hawaiian State Bar certified attorneys is limited, and barred attorneys across the rest of the U.S. were not able to provide the same level of legal support without violating Hawaii’s unauthorized practice of law regulations.”
The NHLC assisted Maui residents with receiving FEMA funding they have been entitled to after the wildfires, mentioned Landau.
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By utilizing “the assistance of NHLC, clients could ensure their FEMA applications were filed correctly and submitted on time,” she mentioned.
“If a FEMA application is denied, then the appeal window opens and the applicant can send a letter affirming their eligibility, explaining their situation in detail, and correcting any errors or miscommunications in the original application.”
The students from Pepperdine Law “primarily focused on drafting these appeal letters, while the NHLC lawyers helped facilitate client information, reviewed the drafts and completed the filing process,” mentioned Landau.
Landau and different regulation students at Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law are serving to Hawaiians obtain FEMA funding they’re entitled to after the lack of their houses and companies. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Landau advised Fox News Digital that she discovered the work “incredibly impactful” — and that she was in a position to see firsthand how her volunteer work was altering lives.
“Through our volunteer work with NHLC this semester, my partner and I were able to assist a native Hawaiian woman in filing a FEMA appeal letter after her initial application was denied,” she mentioned.
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The girl misplaced her residence within the wildfires and supplied all documentation from her landlord, but FEMA denied her declare as her roommate on the time had already acquired funding, in accordance to Landau.
“I was so amazed to see how simple legal research and writing could be influential in allowing a person to begin rebuilding their life.”
“After legal research and consultation with attorneys at NHLC, we determined our client was still eligible to receive her own FEMA funding because she was not related to her roommate and would not be part of the same household anymore,” she mentioned.
Landau and her companion have been in a position to doc these info — and the 2 drafted a letter detailing the lady’s state of affairs.
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“Our client was relying on family and friends to provide shelter until she could secure her FEMA funding and move forward with her life,” mentioned Landau.
“I was so amazed to see how simple legal research and writing could be influential in allowing a person to begin rebuilding their life.”
Fox News Digital reached out to FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) for remark.
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