Disaster Recovery
Disasters disrupt lives, livelihoods, and entire communities, often creating complex legal challenges.
Public Counsel’s disaster recovery work helps low-income individuals, families, small businesses, and community organizations navigate these challenges and access essential legal support.
Our Areas of Expertise
Public Counsel’s Disaster Recovery work advances resilience and justice for communities facing the legal and economic impacts of wildfires and other disasters. We combine direct legal assistance, community education, and policy advocacy to expand housing protections, prevent exploitation, and support community-based recovery. Guided by the lived experiences of survivors, we work to strengthen systems so that every Angeleno has a fair path to rebuilding.
Our Approach
1
Direct Legal Assistance
We provide targeted legal support to low-income tenants, consumers, and small business owners after a disaster. We assist with eviction risks, landlord disputes, debt collection, fraud, unfair business practices, and post-disaster business operations, including contracts, leasing, employment, and compliance.
2
Policy Advocacy
We support the drafting and advocacy of legislation that strengthens protections for low-income communities after disasters. Our work includes advancing safeguards around tenant and community protections, rental rate limits, and protections against price gouging during declared emergencies.
3
Community Education
We develop Know Your Rights guides, FAQs, and educational workshops to help individuals, tenants, and small businesses navigate post-disaster legal challenges. We provide education and resources so communities can understand their options, avoid exploitation, and access protections during recovery.
Join Public Counsel’s disaster recovery volunteer roster to support communities affected by disasters.
We rely on volunteer attorneys and legal professionals to help survivors navigate critical legal issues in the aftermath of a disaster. Volunteers may assist at Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs), Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs), and a variety of Disaster Recovery Clinics.
Early opportunities may include staffing DRCs, helping survivors at FEMA clinics, or assisting with replacing essential documents. Later stages often involve FEMA appeals clinics, insurance clinics, landlord-tenant issues, consumer matters, or small business support.
By signing up, you’ll be added to our roster of legal volunteers ready to assist when a disaster strikes. If there is no active disaster response underway, you may not hear from us immediately, but signing up now ensures we can quickly mobilize when help is needed most.
Quick Stats
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Families Helped
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$X,XXX
Benefits Secured
Through our legal advocacy, we help families access critical public benefits
10,000
Adoptions Finalized
Since the launch of our Adoptions Project in 1997
The Latest
Popular Resources
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09/05/25
Advice for Homeowners with Mortgages Affected by the 2025 LA Wildfires
This document provides guidance for homeowners affected by the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, covering topics such as mortgages, insurance claims, property tax relief, FEMA assistance, and how to avoid scams.…
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Risks of Filing Bankruptcy After LA County Fires
Bankruptcy, especially a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, can cause immediate damage to your credit and ability to access affordable loans. This one-page guide in English and Spanish provides some factors to…
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Support for Small Businesses Affected by LA Fires
Are you a small business affected by the Los Angeles fires? The first step to protect your rights is to review your lease agreement and your insurance policy. Contact Public…
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