TLC-HEART Phone Line Robust With Calls for Help
About
TLC-HEART Phone Line Robust With Calls for Help
November 6, 2012Touro Law Center, together with partners the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Disaster Relief Law Center “You.Me.We.” have launched the Touro Law Center – Hurricane Emergency Assistance and Referral Team (TLC-HEART), to provide referrals, assistance and legal advice for individuals, families and small businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy. Touro Law is also coordinating with the New York State Bar Association, the Long Island Hispanic Bar Association and Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association, as well as local, state and federal government agencies.
Members of the public can call the center at (631) 761-7198 or email tlcheart@tourolaw.edu to receive assistance from disaster relief-trained students and attorneys who will match resident concerns with referrals to federal, state and local government agencies and private groups offering storm-related assistance. Volunteer attorneys are on hand to provide legal assistance as well. The telephone hotline will be answered live Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and on Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Voicemail messages can be left 24/7.
On its first day of operation, the hotline received over 45 phone calls and emails seeking information and legal assistance on a variety of issues, including landlord-tenant, labor and employment , insurance and FEMA.
Touro Law students and student organizations, such as the Student Disaster Relief Network, along with faculty and staff have been critical in launching the effort. Nearly 20 members of the Suffolk County Bar Association in addition to approximately 20 Touro Law alumni have already signed on to help in the effort. Dean Patricia Salkin said, “Touro Law Center is pleased to be a first responder to assist with the coordination of legal services on Long Island since our partner organizations have been without electrical power in their offices.” She continued, “Despite their setbacks, we would not have been able to get up and running so quickly without the early involvement of the Suffolk County Bar Association, Suffolk County community based organizations, the State Bar and the ABA.”
The center is scheduled to remain open through the academic year.
“Our local legal community is always willing to help their neighbors and the community at large,” said Suffolk County Bar Association President Arthur Shulman. “This is a talented and giving group of professionals. I couldn’t be more proud of this effort and the individual responses. We have the potential to do a lot of good for a lot of people.”
Members of the public can call the center at (631) 761-7198 or email tlcheart@tourolaw.edu to receive assistance from disaster relief-trained students and attorneys who will match resident concerns with referrals to federal, state and local government agencies and private groups offering storm-related assistance. Volunteer attorneys are on hand to provide legal assistance as well. The telephone hotline will be answered live Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and on Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Voicemail messages can be left 24/7.
On its first day of operation, the hotline received over 45 phone calls and emails seeking information and legal assistance on a variety of issues, including landlord-tenant, labor and employment , insurance and FEMA.
Touro Law students and student organizations, such as the Student Disaster Relief Network, along with faculty and staff have been critical in launching the effort. Nearly 20 members of the Suffolk County Bar Association in addition to approximately 20 Touro Law alumni have already signed on to help in the effort. Dean Patricia Salkin said, “Touro Law Center is pleased to be a first responder to assist with the coordination of legal services on Long Island since our partner organizations have been without electrical power in their offices.” She continued, “Despite their setbacks, we would not have been able to get up and running so quickly without the early involvement of the Suffolk County Bar Association, Suffolk County community based organizations, the State Bar and the ABA.”
The center is scheduled to remain open through the academic year.
“Our local legal community is always willing to help their neighbors and the community at large,” said Suffolk County Bar Association President Arthur Shulman. “This is a talented and giving group of professionals. I couldn’t be more proud of this effort and the individual responses. We have the potential to do a lot of good for a lot of people.”
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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. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide as separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media.
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062
Cell: (516) 314-6661