New Orleans, LA (ContentDesk) September 21, 2005 — Paul Massa was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating with his BA and law degree from Tulane University, he settled in to the city that gave the world jazz, jambalaya and Mardi Gras to practice law. And, like every other resident of New Orleans, his world was turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina two weeks ago.”I lost everything,” Massa says. “From my personal possessions to my office files, there wasn’t a whole lot that I could salvage. The only thing I have left is my experience and my time.

I can’t let those go to waste too.”Working from borrowed office space in Atlanta, Paul joined forces with legal consulting firm TacitLogic LLC to create a network of lawyers and law students to provide legal and insurance resources to residents of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana affected by Hurricane Katrina’s destructive forces.”It’s difficult enough to recover from a tragedy,” Massa says. “But it’s even more difficult when all your documents, all your records have been destroyed, too.

Part of the legal aid effort is a group of affected law students from New Orleans-based Tulane College of Law. Students like Pete Lamb are helping by contributing Pro Bono services, as well as creating a running blog (available at blog.katrinalegal.com now) to provide up-to-date information for those in need.”I evacuated the Saturday before the storm to Houston, where I was for 10 days,” says Lamb. “I had to figure out what I needed to do and how to do it after I evacuated.

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