News Alert!

Hurricane Katrina updates

• Louisiana courts affected by the hurricane have posted closure and reopening dates, along with other pertinent information, at the Web site for the First Circuit Court of Appeal.

  Governor Blanco has issued an order for the suspension of deadlines, also available at the First Circuit Court of Appeal's Web site. 

  The Louisiana Supreme Court asks that employees of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal contact their respective courts immediately with contact information and their locations.  Contact information for all three courts is available through the First Circuit Court of Appeal Web site.

  The First Circuit Court of Appeal has also set up filing guidelines for cases involving the areas affected by the hurricane and flooding, as well as information for displaced attorneys with business before the court.

• The Mississippi Supreme Court has issued administrative orders pertaining to the extension of deadlines and other disruptions caused by the hurricane.

• Tolling orders to extend deadlines in affected areas of Florida are available through the Florida Supreme Court emergency Web site.

• LawHelp.org, which provides information and assistance for people with low incomes and the legal organizations that help those people, has a Web page devoted to legal relief in the areas affected by the hurricane.  The resources page includes links to legal services organizations, self-help information and hotline numbers.

• On its Hurricane Katrina Web page, the American Bar Association has assembled a great deal of information, including information for people affected by the hurricane and flood, for lawyers who need help and lawyers who want to volunteer their services, and for displaced law students.  Emergency legal hotlines for Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are also available.  

• The American Correctional Association is collecting donations for affected correctional staff in Louisiana and Mississippi.  

• Aspen Publishers, CCH and Loislaw are making arrangements to serve customers in affected areas, including complimentary electronic legal research through Loislaw for members of the legal community in hurricane-affected areas, regardless of whether they are current Loislaw subscribers.  Support details for users of CCH and Aspen Publishers products are available online.

• News from the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals includes emergency information for court employees and attorneys with business before that court.  Updated news and information are accessible from the court's homepage. 

Do You Have a Disaster Recovery Plan?

• Document recovery is a primary focus for judicial systems facing disasters of any kind; solutions for preserving and recovering water-damaged documents are featured in the FAQ section of the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity module in the CourTopics database.  The module also features useful resources on creating and using a recovery or continuity plan and a list of other NCSC documents.

• The Best Practices Institute created this guide on Emergency Management for Courts, which includes seven specific best practices for creating or reviewing an emergency management strategy.

• The materials page of the Web site for the 9-11 Summit contains links to many helpful disaster recovery and continuity resources, including links to 11 state recovery plans and to a federal self-assessment designed to evaluate existing plans or develop new ones. 

• In 1997, a flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, rendered “the entire court and law enforcement infrastructure … inundated and unusable,” said Justice Dale V. Sandstrom of the North Dakota Supreme Court.  The court used these emergency orders and other plans after the flood, including suspension of filing deadlines and relocation of proceedings.

• There is a template for a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) in the resource guide from the Florida Supreme Court Workgroup on Emergency Preparedness, “Keep the Courts Open.”  The guide is designed specifically for courts formulating continuity plans and covers document preservation, facility shutdown and restoration of operations.

• The Vera Institute of Justice produced this report describing the New York City justice system’s recovery from the September 11 attacks.  The report itself is an update of a 1969 report which focused primarily on civil unrest and its concomitant hazards. 

• The National Association for Court Management (NACM) released this guide on disaster recovery and business continuity.  It addresses the actual creation and testing of disaster recovery plans, and it includes sample plans and accounts from courts that found themselves facing emergency situations.

Top

National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue
Williamsburg, VA 23185-4147
Phone (800)616-6164 Fax (757)564-2022
Questions or Comments - email webmaster@ncsc.dni.us

Copyright © 2005 The National Center for State Courts. All Rights Reserved.