Touro Law to Organize National Law Student Response to Help Hurricane Sandy Victims

March 13, 2013

Touro Law is pleased to announce receipt of a $40,000 grant from the Rauch Foundation to hire an Attorney Project Coordinator to recruit, organize and coordinate the efforts of law students from around the country who want to provide pro bono assistance to victims of Hurricane Sandy on Long Island.

The funds are being used to support an attorney who will serve as project coordinator to match law student volunteers from around the country with disaster relief agencies who are already providing legal services to those in need. Students will be placed with non-profits as well as government agencies. Legal issues students will address include insurance, FEMA, foreclosure, environmental issues, consumer and rebuilding issues, landlord tenant issues and some employment issues. The overall project will be modeled after the Student Hurricane Network experience that was developed following Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast.

“Touro Law’s efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy have grown from the immediate community service effort that began just days after the storm to include curricular changes, a new disaster relief clinic, coordination of all regional disaster relief legal service providers and now coordination of the national law student response,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “I am proud that due to the Rauch grant we will be able expand our efforts to harness the energy and passion of law students from around the country to provide desperately needed pro bono services for our community. I am confident that this effort will benefit a large number of people in need while providing an enriching and fulfilling educational experience for law students across the country.”

The coordinator position is being filled immediately and will be funded through 6 months. Law student groups interested in spending their spring break or summer doing service work to benefit those in need after Hurricane Sandy, please contact Thomas Maligno, Director of ProBono at (631) 761-7033 or email tmaligno@tourolaw.edu.

The Rauch Foundation is a Long Island–based family foundation that invests in ideas and organizations that spark and sustain systemic change in our communities.

 
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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.
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