Publication Forthcoming!

We are proud to announce that our article “Operation Disaster Defender” will be published soon!

We are proud to announce that The Western Michigan Cooley Journal of Practical & Clinical Law will publish William Gribble’s (our Editor-in-Cheif)’s article entitled “Operation Disaster Defender: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Preserving Access to Justice and Client Property Through Disaster Preparedness” in Volume 19.1. This is a major milestone for Mr. Gribble as his first published work in a scholarly journal.

Below is an abstract of the article. If you are interested in viewing or discussing this topic of this article, feel free to reach out to Will via our blog.

With the livelihood of nearly 79,000 possibly at stake in the United States, shouldn’t preparing for a disaster be one of our top priorities as a profession? Additionally, the professional responsibility rules and civil liability will likely not be completely suspended during a disaster. This means that individuals could possibly face professional discipline or civil liability for failing to prepare for a disaster. Though this culture of preparedness is growing; what about our duty as leaders to preparing our communities? Would it be surprising to learn that there has been a gap in collaboration between legal and emergency management profession until it’s too late? Though some work has been done to help bridge this gap, more can still be done.

The Emergency Management profession has developed–and routinely updates–emergency management accreditation and certification programs that are mirrored in industries both domestically and internationally. Incorporating these established programs within the legal community will allow the profession to have a solid foundation in mitigating professional responsibility and civil liability pitfalls following a disaster. Additionally, the tertiary effects of this program are likely to: (1) provide a ready and capable legal community who can easily understand and assist emergency managers and civic leaders with some of their most misunderstood legal problems before, during, and after a disaster; (2) safeguard access to justice after a disaster strikes; and (3) preserve client and third-party tangible personal property.