Yesterday, the State Bar sent out a release with its disaster legal aid hotline (800) 504-7040, which will direct calls to TRLA or Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, depending on whether the caller lives in our service area or theirs. Survivors can also access our tip sheets, which provide extremely useful information about managing the legal issues that arise after disasters.You can find them at trla.org/disasters

Here is the State Bar's press release, and please help pass around the information!

AUSTIN — The State Bar of Texas reminds residents that a toll-free legal hotline—(800) 504-7030—is available to connect people with local legal aid providers following disasters such as the recent flooding in Central and South Texas.

The hotline—answered in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese—is designed to connect low-income people with legal aid providers in their area who can help with such issues as replacing lost documents, insurance questions, landlord-tenant problems, and consumer protection concerns such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams during the rebuilding process.

Callers are routed to their local legal aid provider or can choose to leave a message. People who qualify for assistance will be matched with Texas lawyers who have volunteered to provide free, limited legal help.

Individuals who qualify also may use texaslegalanswers.org—an online legal advice clinic where individuals can post their civil legal questions and have them answered online by volunteer attorneys. The State Bar of Texas operates Texas Legal Answers in conjunction with the American Bar Association.

Additional resources are available at texasbar.com/disasters and texaslawhelp.org.

The State Bar of Texas reminds the public that in many cases it is a crime in Texas for a lawyer or someone representing a lawyer to contact a person for purposes of legal representation if the person has not first requested the call or personal visit. The contact is not illegal if the attorney is not seeking payment or has a preexisting professional-client or family relationship with the person being contacted.

If you witness something you believe to be improper solicitation, or barratry, please get the name and phone number of the person making contact and report it to your local law enforcement authority or the State Bar Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s Office toll free at (866) 224-5999.

— — —

The State Bar of Texas is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Texas that provides educational programs for the legal profession and the public, administers the minimum continuing legal education program for attorneys, and manages the attorney discipline system. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @statebaroftexas, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/statebaroftexas, or visit texasbar.com.