news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 5, 2009

CONTACT:
James Carroll
(202) 466-3686 ext. 102 		jcarroll@equaljusticeworks.org
www.equaljusticeworks.org
EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS APPLAUDS
CONTRIBUTIONS OF JEHT FOUNDATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Equal Justice Works Chief Executive David Stern acknowledged the significant contributions of the JEHT Foundation in its Katrina Initiative, a model disaster relief effort for legal services.

With the assistance of a generous matching grant from the JEHT Foundation in 2005, Equal Justice Works established the Katrina Initiative to provide direct legal services to Gulf Coast residents and generate pro bono opportunities for lawyers and law students in the aftermath of the worst natural disaster in the nation’s history. This program placed lawyers and law students at nonprofit organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama to help the hundreds of thousands of people left without homes, jobs, access to health care and social services due to the damage from the hurricanes.

“With the extraordinary support of the JEHT Foundation, Equal Justice Works was able to have lawyers on the ground assisting clients within just weeks of the disaster. Without their vision and commitment, residents would have had to wait much longer for critically needed legal assistance,” said Mr. Stern. “Because of JEHT’s ongoing commitment, Equal Justice Works was able to maintain support for these underserved and severely stressed communities for more than two years.”

JEHT funding for the Katrina Initiative ended in May 2008, and Equal Justice Works was in the process of submitting a final report at the time of the announcement. According to a forthcoming report from the Urban Institute, the Katrina Initiative successfully provided emergency legal assistance in the Gulf Region and, in many cases, exceeded the expected goals.

In a statement released in December, JEHT Foundation President and CEO Robert Crane announced that: “Due to a sudden financial crisis and the resulting loss of funding, the JEHT Foundation has stopped all grant making effective immediately and will be closing its doors in early 2009. Unfortunately the funds of the donors to the JEHT Foundation were managed by Bernard L. Madoff, a financial advisor who was arrested last week for defrauding investors out of billions of dollars.”

“We at Equal Justice Works and many others in the national nonprofit community are greatly saddened by the loss of a valued partner,” said Mr. Stern. “We are so enormously appreciative of the support from the foundation and from Bob Crane personally on the Katrina Initiative. Their passion for justice is an inspiration that will continue to have an impact for years to come.”

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Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to working for equal justice on behalf of underserved communities and causes. Today, Equal Justice Works is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers as well as in advocating for more public interest programming at law schools. For more information, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.

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