Tulane law student Morgan Williams, right, greets Kesav Wavel, a student at Brooklyn Law School who is upcoming co-chair of the Student Hurricane Network chapter at that school.

The Student Hurricane Network, founded by law students from Tulane University and other universities shortly after Hurricane Katrina kicked up a storm of legal problems for local area residents, has generated a whirlwind of activity on the part of law students around the country. After a year and a half, several thousand law students have become involved, with law students making more than 2,700 individual trips to the Gulf Coast to help residents with legal issues.

For spring break, more than 1,000 law students have been traveling to the Gulf Coast from all over the country, says Morgan Williams, a New Orleans native and Tulane law student who was instrumental in organizing the Student Hurricane Network.

In mid-March, another law student organization, Law Students for Governmental Accountability, held a two-day lobbying program beginning with a traditional New Orleans jazz funeral procession, concert and speakers. The bi-partisan, nonprofit group of law students across the nation is working to lobby Congress for legislation that directly addresses issues of disaster response, race and class which are at the forefront of the region's rebuilding.

"After law student groups go back home, they present the work they did here and many become advocates," says Williams, who plans to graduate in December. "In addition to the law students who are volunteering, many lawyers from across the country are coming down to offer pro bono services."

The Student Hurricane Network has held events in partnership with various law firms and the New York Bar Association. Events are planned for Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

"The momentum has gone beyond us at this point," Williams says. "If we stopped, the work wouldn't stop."

Attorney Ishmael Muhammed of New Orleans, with hands raised, speaks to law students about hurricane-ravaged homes being bulldozed without owners being notified. The students researched and communicated with the homeowners, resulting in a lawsuit. (Photos from the Student Hurricane Network)

Programs of the Student Hurricane Network such as Matchmakers for Justice continue to provide assistance to local area residents as they navigate the rough seas of recovery. Currently, the second phase of Matchmakers for Justice is in progress, pairing 50 law students with residents, following the first phase that helped 28 residents.

Another project includes a survey, with 150 law students interviewing 5,000 residents in the greater New Orleans area to assess the residents' legal needs while they live in trailers sponsored by the government. The volunteers are gathering information on a host of issues including health insurance, public schooling, unemployment and experiences with the Road Home Program.

Law students also participated in the Road Home Heirship Affidavit Project, seeking to help residents do the paperwork to obtain proper titles of ownership for their homes.

Other projects involve the Tulane Criminal Law Clinic. For Project Triage, 55 law students went through the criminal justice system's dockets to identify those who might have been lost in the system and might require representation. For the Katrina Gideon Interview Project, 240 law students helped interview the many pretrial detainees caught in the backlog created by Katrina, providing background files for the public defenders preparing to meet clients.

To plan for the future, when the current leadership of the Student Hurricane Network graduates, a national advisory board of first- and second-year law students is in the works, and a strategic planning meeting at the end of this month will strengthen the organization's eight committees.

As for Williams, he plans to spend this summer working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York.