Hundreds volunteer for relief effort: YLD disaster assistance coordinators now look toward Frances.

More than 600 lawyers stepped up to the call to help Hurricane Charley victims with legal questions, and even more volunteers are needed as Hurricane Frances aims potentially disastrous winds toward Florida.

On September 1, Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division President Mike Faehner kept a wary eye on the Weather Channel, monitoring Frances' catastrophic creep--just a day after he participated in a Town Hall meeting at the Charlotte County Justice Center to help families left homeless and confused by Charley.

"We have a one-year plan for Charley. Recovery from Hurricane Charley is a marathon, not a sprint. Florida Bar volunteers are involved for the long haul to provide assistance," said Faehner, who has been working to put the YLD in coordination with the ABA-YLD and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"With Frances, I warned everybody that we're not the ones with as big of a problem as FEMA, which is not designed to handle two hurricanes in such a short time."

More volunteers are needed to staff the toll-free hotline number for hurricane victims who cannot afford to hire a lawyer: (866) 550-2929.

"If Frances hits Florida in a significant manner, we will have to divide our resources," Faehner said. "It will be tricky to decide where we deploy our resources. I want everyone pushing that toll-free number."

Faehner knows firsthand that staffing he hotline number brings a good feeling of being a lawyer willing to do meaningful, appreciated pro bono work.

"I think it's very rewarding to be able to help that one person out to make a difference and give that person guidance when they don't have hope," Faehner said.

"One person I spoke to lost everything. They are over the grief stage at this point, saying, 'We've got to put our life together. We have to move on.' These people are very thankful FEMA got in there quickly. I spoke to three people whose houses are uninhabitable. They said FEMA gave them checks, and within 48 hours they had $25,000 in a bank account to buy a new trailer or move out of the area."

Some lawyers who had volunteered for the disaster hotline called Faehner to cancel because they were busy boarding up their homes and law offices on the East Coast to prepare for the worst from Hurricane Frances.

"A lot of lawyers I am asking to volunteer have basically said, 'I don't feel confident because I don't know disaster law.' My response is, 'Every lawyer knows some disaster law.'"

What lawyers don't know off the top of their...