In the weeks following the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, at the requests of Congressman Joseph Cao, legal aid organizations in the Gulf region -- Mississippi Center for Justice, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, and Legal Services of Alabama, the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) -- initiated a volunteer legal clinics project with strong support from Vietnamese American Bar Association of the Greater Washington DC (VABADC). Eventually, a coalition of 12 legal bar associations, legal aid, and other non-profit organizations from across the country was established. Eighteen Vietnamese American lawyers and 11 law students, pre-law students, and interpreters from across the country formed a team dubbed as the Vietnamese American Volunteer Law Corps to help Vietnamese American victims of the Oil Spill.

Phase 1: Over 3 days, this corps of volunteers conducted 4 legal education clinics in three Gulf states - Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - and served over 100 Vietnamese community leaders and members. These clinics are the first bilingual, pro-bono legal education clinics since the Oil Spill disaster occurred, providing community members with unbiased information in Vietnamese regarding the BP claims process, their basic legal rights regarding compensation, retaining/firing a lawyer, Vessel of Opportunity (boats) Program, and other resources. The clinic aimed to provide claimants with information regarding their options and to empower them to make more informed decisions. At the invitation of the White House, the Corps published its position paper, outlining various challenges Vietnamese American communities in the Gulf are facing and how these challenges can be addressed from the legal and policy perspectives (see position paper attached).

In response to the urgent legal needs of the Vietnamese American community affected by the BP Oil Spill Disaster, VABA-DC has joined forces with various national and local community organizations and bar associations to hold two bilingual legal aid clinics for Vietnamese American fishermen in the Gulf Coast on June 25-26, 2010.

Clinics Schedule:

Biloxi, Mississippi

When:              Friday, June 25th 1-5pm

Where:             Biloxi Community Development Department Auditorium

676 Martin Luther King Blvd, Biloxi. MS

New Orleans, Louisiana

When:              Saturday, June 26th: 9am-5pm

Where:             Mary Queen of Viet Nam School

14001 Dwyer Blvd, New Orleans, LA

>> Click here for the full announcement (pdf format). 

Join VABA-DC at NAPABA's Southeast Regional Conference this year! 

VABA-DC is an affiliate of NAPABA, and APABA-VA (headed by our very own Tony Pham and John Tran) is organizing this regional conference. 

VABA-DC Board Member Phong Nguyen will be a speaker, and the event will be a great opportunity to meet and network with APA attorneys in this broader region while enjoying Bush Gardens and Williamsburg!

See you there!