The Louisiana State Bar Association awards an attorney or organization the Legal Service Innovation Award each year. This award is presented to those who have developed an innovative method of delivering legal services to those with unmet civil legal needs. In 2024, Acadiana Legal Service Corporation’s Disaster Unit’s “Justice Bus” received the Legal Service Innovation Award.
Acadiana Legal Service Corporation deployed the first fully functional mobile office unit with the ability to reach areas where disasters have struck. Making up ALSC’s service area, the 42 parishes in north, central, and southwest Louisiana comprise 75% of legal deserts. In these legal deserts, many disaster survivors are unaware of the civil legal services available. Many must travel at least 45 minutes to the nearest civil legal resource, thus rendering quick access to legal aid unobtainable. ALSC’s solution to reaching those in legal deserts is the Justice Bus! Our “Justice Bus” can provide disaster relief services to low-income survivors of FEMA-declared disasters in 2020-2021. ALSC’s two Justice Buses are fully equipped with a generator, internet, charging stations, laptops, workspaces, and more.
Since the deployment of both Justice Buses, ALSC’s outreach efforts can build on existing partnerships and provide access to justice directly to the public. In 2024 the Justice Buses visited 21 parishes in our service area including Acadia, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Ouachita, Rapides, Sabine, St. Landry, St. Mary, Vermilion, Vernon, and Webster. The busses have traveled 13,314 miles to 37 outreach events reaching over 1,100 people. ALSC has had two opportunities to deploy after a disaster, Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Francine, increasing the brand awareness of ALSC as a whole and delivering exceptional legal services to our disaster survivors still experiencing legal issues from Hurricane Laura, Delta, and Ida of 2020-2021. ALSC will continue to deploy for disaster recovery, housing, public benefits, and family law outreach, advancing our mission of equal justice for all.
If you are looking to schedule an outreach event for your organization visit www.la-law.org/outreach. Check out our Events for upcoming outreach in your local area!