Louisiana State Bar Association issued the following announcement on Sept. 10.
Hope that the majority of you impacted by Hurricane Ida have been able to return to your homes and that you are continuing to recover from this devastating storm. The Bar Center is scheduled to reopen at 8:30 a.m., Monday, September 13 with limited staff, as some of our staff members are still displaced due to continuing power outages and/or damage which prevents them from returning to their homes. However, our website (https://www.lsba.org/) remains fully functional and we urge you to visit it for latest updates from the LSBA and the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Court has released the following Orders and information:
• September 8 Update on Supreme Court Operations (https://bit.ly/3tvoxk4)
• Emergency Extension of Prescription, Peremption and Abandonment (https://bit.ly/3DyPs2R)
• Emergency Extension of Time Limitations in Criminal Matters (https://bit.ly/3gNs7k3)
In addition to the court extensions and closures from the Supreme Court and individual courts, both Chief Justice Weimer and I encourage all lawyers and courts to take into account all litigants in cases involving cases or lawyers affected by the storm when it comes to scheduling and rescheduling hearings and trials. The damage is massive and the loss of power and internet issues have and continue to affect many of our lawyers and their offices. Please use this time to work with those affected to make sure that all parties are able to participate and justice is served.
We are working with other stakeholders to assess how we might best assist our members and the public impacted by the storm. If you have any specific needs with which we can assist, please do not hesitate to let us know. You may reach out to our staff members through the LSBA Staff Directory (www.lsba.org/goto/staffdirectory).
We are pleased that many are using our disaster response message board (https://www.lsba.org/DR/drmessageboard.aspx) where members of the legal community may post both things they need in the aftermath of Ida as well as resources available to those in need. We also hope you will continue to use our disaster response page (https://www.lsba.org/DR/) for its wealth of resources. Additionally, the LSBA Young Lawyers Division, in conjunction with the American Bar Association, created a Disaster Tips Worksheet (www.lsba.org/goto/disastertips) with resources for dealing with a disaster. The worksheet includes post-disaster tips for recovery, tips for filing insurance or FEMA claims, and information on legal aid, fraud, and important contact information.
We continue to receive offers of assistance from members not impacted by the storm, as well as our friends in other states. We have been directing them to our disaster response message board and asking neighboring bar associations to share it with their members. We will continue to work diligently to facilitate those connections.
We have cancelled the two Back to Basics CLE seminars scheduled for today and will reschedule prior to the end of the calendar year. For those looking for CLE opportunities we encourage you to consider our online library (https://lsba.inreachce.com/) of more than 200 programs. As a reminder, the Supreme Court has lifted the self-study cap for 2021, allowing members to earn all 12.5 required hours virtually. In addition, you may carry over into 2022 up to four hours of self-study credits.
Again, the LSBA is here for you. We continue to keep you and your families in our thoughts and prayers. Please be safe.
Sincerely,
H. Minor Pipes III
2021-22 LSBA President
Original source can be found here.