With the virtual destruction of New Orleans comes the virtual destruction of countless legal records. The Louisiana Supreme Court, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, city and district courts in as many as 8 parishes/counties, as well as three circuit courts have all been flooded, including evidence/files for countless cases. The state bar and disiplinary offices, and numerous other legal-related facilities are virtually destroyed.

Of course, ways of life have also been disrupted, including those of our fellow law students at Loyola, Tulane, Southern and LSU. According to Susanah Mead, Interim Dean and Professor of Law here at IU School of Law - Indianapolis, "Virtually all law schools have agreed to take Tulane and Loyola students tuition free, if tuition is paid to their home school and they are in good standing at their home school."

According to Dean Mead at least two of these students will be joining us within the next week. I hope that every student works to reach out to them and make the transition as easy as possible.

Update: Thanks to this story in the Evansville Courier and Press (requires registration) I was alerted to the plight of Mirta Desir, a first year Loyola law student. I have gotten Mirta in touch with the administration and it appears as though she may be joining us soon.

Update 2: Associate Dean Klein has clarified the school's policy regarding students affected by Hurricane Katrina: "The deans of Loyola and Tulane have been in contact with the law school community today. Both deans told us that they would welcome schools admitting their 2L and 3L students as visitors for the fall semester. However, they are asking that we not accept 1Ls. At this point, both schools still hope to have some sort of operations before the year is over. In fact, just an hour ago, Loyola announced that it is planning to establish a program at the University of Houston beginning in October that will include a first-year curriculum."