Katrina Recovery and Democracy-Building:

A Learning Laboratory for Law Students

Defining the role of lawyers in community recovery from disaster is at the heart of an initiative that attracted five University of Maryland law students and two faculty members to Mississippi this summer. Nationally recognized for its outstanding Clinical Law Program, Maryland operates more than 20 clinics in Baltimore, and students participate in a clinic as a graduation requirement.

The Maryland team is participating in a Cross-Cultural Recovering Communities Initiative that sends students and faculty to different sites where they compare experiences of democracy-building in communities recovering from natural disaster (Mississippi Gulf Coast), chronic disaster resulting from economic disinvestment (Baltimore), and the cultural and economic disaster impacting populations that are left out of international development and new markets (a yet to be determined international site in Latin America or Africa).

The shared values and synergy is what drew the two organizations together as part of a Leadership, Ethics and Democracy Initiative based at the School of Law, led by Professor Michael Millemann and funded by the Fetzer Institute through a $1.63 million investment. Mississippi Center for Justice attorneys Bonnie Allen and John Jopling taught the summer clinic that offered the students opportunities to provide direct legal services to clients. The summer clinic included a weekly classroom component where students read articles and heard guest speakers on recovery-related topics such as the severe shortage of affordable housing, the role of the media, the history of the Vietnamese community in Biloxi, and civil rights history specific to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“This is merely the beginning of a long-term partnership between two extraordinary institutions – both known for the highest standards of legal excellence and a deep commitment to racial and economic justice,” Allen said.

The students hit the ground running during the first week of the clinic when they took on 35 contractor fraud cases that the Center had accepted for placement with volunteer attorneys. Astounded by the unthinkable callousness and shameless greed of unscrupulous contractors that have exploited mostly retired homeowners, the students were hungry for the opportunity to put their classroom learning to work in ways that helped real people in need. For most of them, the clinic was the first opportunity to actually practice law.

In addition to working contractor fraud cases, the students kept journals about their experiences and organized several community meetings with residents of public housing to identify major problems, including mold and other health hazards.

Student Joanne Spilich wrote in her journal, “What makes this Mississippi experience so valuable and rewarding is that I get the opportunity to build a real personal bond with clients and help a client who really needs assistance. I am learning so much. I wake up every morning excited about what I am going to do that day, and thinking that I will get one step closer to righting a wrong out there in the world – but not only that, this type of on-the-ground learning is teaching me more than I could possibly learn in a classroom.”

Another student, Dan Zhu, wrote in his journal about his experiences with both individual clients and groups. “My client, a victim of contractor fraud, is a single mother of two and a high school teacher. Her contractor failed to finish the job and simply left. Just to be able to hold an actual case file and read through personal information about real people with unresolved problems was an experience that to this point was only a dream. It is so easy to get lost in learning theory and living in academia…

…Today we spent the majority of time visiting a public housing project. Our job was to go door to door asking residents to identify mold in their houses that could have been left there by the storm and any related health issues. Growing up in a public housing situation in New York City, my expectations of response from the residents was minimum at best. It has been my experience that the poor and disenfranchised often keep to themselves and almost never talk to strangers. However, this was not the case in Mississippi. From the first house we knocked on, the reception was anything but hostile. A young white family welcomed us into their home immediately and was more than willing to talk to us about the mold found in the home and the sickness of their children. This welcoming demeanor was prevalent in every house we visited; an almost unbelievable warmth, openness and trust for people who they have never met before. I can only chalk this up to what people commonly refer to as Southern Hospitality.”

Building on the tremendous success of the inaugural clinic, Maryland is already making plans to return students and faculty to the Mississippi Gulf Coast next summer.