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Pepperdine Caruso Law Legal Clinics Featured in "As Los Angeles Deals with Wildfires, Law Schools Offer Support" -- ABA Journal

The Pepperdine Caruso Law Legal Clinics are featured in the ABA Journal article "As Los Angeles Deals with Wildfires, Law Schools Offer Support." The article features the immediate responses of the Caruso Law Legal Clinics to serve neighbors who suffered losses in the Los Angeles wildfires, focusing on the pro bono clinics held at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church in Malibu on January 18-19, in partnership with lawyers and staff from FROST LLP, led by Caruso Law alumnus Christopher Frost (JD '98).

Clinical faculty, law students, and volunteers lawyers provided limited-scope advice and counsel on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance and insurance questions. Professors Jeff Baker, Peter Fendel, and Tanya Cooper, and Caruso Law students and staff organized the clinics, and have offered online community education and attorney training sessions throughout the days since the fires. Professor Baker has also consulted with and trained clinical law faculty at UC Irvine, UCLA, and Loyola Law Schools to assist their efforts to stand-up programs for Los Angeles.

The Caruso Law Legal Clinics have additional pro bono clinics planned and Caruso Law is underway on plans to support local communities with pro bono services for the long term. 

Excerpt from "As Los Angeles Deals with Wildfires, Law Schools Offer Support"

At Pepperdine Caruso, in Malibu, California, volunteers served 23 people and families at two clinics, says Jeff Baker, the law school’s associate dean. The campus has significant experience with wildfires, including in December 2024, when students sheltered in place for the Franklin fire. That blaze grew to more than 2,800 acres, and about 20,000 people were given evacuation orders, the Associated Press reported.

“This was a very sound start for our first, early clinics, especially on our side of the fires in more remote Malibu,” Baker says.

Frost, a Los Angeles litigation law firm, partnered with the law school at these clinics.

On Jan. 25, the law school will host a clinic in Pasadena, California, where Baker expects a larger turnout. Four clinical faculty, about 20 law students and over 60 attorneys signed up to volunteer.

“We will continue to coordinate periodic clinics throughout the region to provide limited-scope advice and counsel clinics, and we are aiming to launch our full Disaster Relief Clinic later in 2025 to provide direct representation,” Baker adds.

In addition, Pepperdine Caruso hosted a Jan. 16 online training for 1,100 attorneys volunteering to help the community. It followed an online event two days earlier, which offered information on handling Federal Emergency Management Agency forms and insurance matters. More than 200 community members attended.

The complete article may be found at ABA Journal