TransPerfect and Morrison & Foerster Create Spanish-Language Helping Handbook for Southern California Residents Affected by Wildfires

TransPerfect, a leading provider of language and business services worldwide, today announced that it has partnered with Morrison & Foerster to create a Spanish-language version of a comprehensive resource guide for people affected by the Southern California wildfires.

The Helping Handbook, which contains information about legal issues that people may face as well as contact information for organizations offering assistance, was originally created as a legal guide for individuals, victims’ families, and small businesses affected by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Since then, M&F has continued to work with state and local bars to create versions of the Helping Handbook for people displaced by natural disasters such as the Southern California wildfires of 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the New York flooding in 2006.

According to TransPerfect Founder Phil Shawe, “These wildfires have had a profound impact on the Southern California community, including those residents whose primary language is Spanish. By partnering with Morrison & Forester on this project, we hope to provide Spanish speakers with accessible, accurate information about the resources available to help them.”

Kathi Pugh, firmwide pro bono counsel at Morrison & Foerster who led the Helping Handbook initiative, added, “This has been a truly collaborative effort – among Morrison & Foerster lawyers in California and New York, and with the active support of county bar associations across Southern California, as well as the California State Bar.” Ms. Pugh, who works out of Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office, also notes, “Each of the seven county bars as well as the California State Bar and the American Bar Association will also post links on their respective web sites directing visitors to the Handbook.”

The 109-page Handbook covers critical post-disaster topics such as finding temporary housing, insurance, unemployment, dealing with government agencies such as FEMA and the Small Business Administration, replacing lost documents, and more. It will be available at neighborhood legal aid centers, the FEMA local assistance centers that are currently being set up across the region, the California State Bar and at the bar associations of San Diego County, North County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and the San Fernando Valley.

Both editions can also be downloaded from the Morrison & Foerster’s website at http://www.mofo.com/about/socalfire2007/index.html.”*

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