Federal Court Looking For Attorneys With Pending Cases In New Orleans

The following article appeared in the Baton Rouge Advocate today

Court seeks attorneys with N.O. cases pending.

By RICHARD BURGESS

Acadiana bureau

LAFAYETTE -- Court officials are putting out an urgent call for the thousands of displaced New Orleans attorneys who have federal cases pending across the state.
Among the many lesser-known problems wrought by Hurricane Katrina is a major disruption to the legal system, as cases statewide for some 8,000 New Orleans-area attorneys are in limbo.

Federal court officials this week opened a "Communications Center" in Lafayette in an effort to track down those displaced attorneys and get cases moving again.

"It's a center for vagabond lawyers," said Gary Zwain, who has appointed by the court to oversee operations at the center.

Zwain, himself a displaced New Orleans attorney, said "thousands of cases" are unable to move forward because of difficulty in contacting attorneys.

Staff for the New Orleans-based U.S. Eastern District Court have set up makeshift offices in Lafayette, Houma and Baton Rouge. The district is accepting court filings, but all legal deadlines have been suspended.

The hurricane has affected 5,934 civil and criminal cases pending in the Eastern District in New Orleans, according to information from court officials.

In addition to those numbers, an estimated 600-700 cases in the Lafayette-based U.S. Western District Court and 4,700-7,000 cases in the Baton Rouge-based U.S. Middle District Court involve New Orleans-area attorneys.

There are no firm numbers on how many displaced attorneys have made contact with the court or how many are grappling with such problems as lost witnesses, lost evidence and lost clients.

"The system has suffered a serious setback," Zwain said.

He said the court system will be in recovery mode "for months."

New Orleans-area lawyers with cases pending in federal court are urged to call the communications center at (337) 235-2444 or at (866) 456-8297, or visit the Web site: http://www.laspecialmaster.com .

The center can provide updated information on pending cases, temporary e-mail addresses and aid in finding or replacing damaged files or documents.