Natural Disasters

Disaster response news from the ABA Journal, American Bar Association legal resources, volunteering opportunities and disaster helplines.

Judge disciplined for requiring COVID-19 vaccination for parents in custody case

A Texas judge was publicly admonished last week for requiring that parents in a family law custody dispute receive the COVID-19 vaccination or produce a negative test 72 hours before the father visited his children.

Sep 15, 2026 9:41 AM CDT

State government official charged with pandemic benefit fraud, money laundering

A member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives appeared in federal court in Boston on Wednesday after a grand jury indictment was unsealed charging him with COVID-19 pandemic benefit fraud and money laundering.

Aug 27, 2026 1:43 PM CDT

After emergencies mar bar exam, New York State Bar Association aims to add new procedures

The New York State Bar Association is aiming to install new procedures after two recent emergencies have happened during the bar exam administration in the past year.

Jul 1, 2026 11:27 AM CDT

No more masks in courtroom, Texas Supreme Court tells judge with autoimmune disorder

Updated: A Dallas County judge in Texas must stop requiring people in her courtroom to wear face masks, even though she has an autoimmune disorder, according to an advisory order issued Friday by the Texas Supreme Court.

Jun 1, 2026 11:04 AM CDT

Out of Bounds: After a natural disaster, sometimes there’s a thin line between attorney help and solicitation

After a natural disaster, it can be confusing to know what conduct is appropriate and what falls outside the scope of the rules, ethics lawyers say, particularly for lawyers located outside the state. After the deadly 2023 wildfire ripped through the island of Maui, Hawaii saw an influx of mainland lawyers offering their services.

Jan 1, 2026 1:30 AM CST

Texas attorney will pay fees for illegally soliciting Hawaii wildfire victims

A Texas attorney found to have illegally solicited victims of the 2023 Maui wildfires was sentenced to pay court fees, according to a report by Hawaii News Now.

Dec 11, 2025 12:36 PM CST

DOJ closed meat probe just before Trump’s investigation demand

The U.S. Justice Department closed a yearslong antitrust probe into the meatpacking industry during the COVID-19 pandemic just weeks before President Donald Trump demanded a fresh investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nov 14, 2025 10:01 AM CST

Twin daughters of BigLaw couple among Texas flood victims; ‘we are devastated,’ family says

Two of the children who died in the floods that swept through Central Texas over the Independence Day weekend were the twin daughters of two BigLaw partners in Dallas.

Jul 8, 2025 2:06 PM CDT

Budget proposal for ‘orderly closeout’ of Legal Services Corp. is ‘devastation,’ says legal aid leader

The Legal Services Corp. has requested $2.1 billion in funding for fiscal year 2026, a far cry from the administration’s $21 million request to enable an “orderly closeout” of the program, according to a Bloomberg Law story.

Jun 9, 2025 2:09 PM CDT

‘Whole lot of oddities’ excuse wrongdoing of lawyer with likely COVID-19 delirium, ethics referee says

Ethics charges should be dropped against a lawyer who told a judge that, “I think I’ve got some COVID brain” after he talked to a sequestered witness during a trial break and then made a false statement about it, according to an ethics referee with the Florida Bar.

May 29, 2025 1:17 PM CDT

How should law firms handle return-to-office policies?

Companies have been in the news for implementing return-to-office mandates in efforts to foster necessary business objectives, including training, team building and overall success. Two studies from the past year offer seemingly different results on the impact of return-to-offices on employee morale.

Apr 1, 2025 2:10 AM CDT

A Fond Farewell: Law prof’s dying father leads family out of the Palisades wildfire

“Losing our home with all of our possessions pales in comparison to losing my dad. But the things also matter. So many special mementos he had kept for his entire life to pass down to us—letters, photos, memories from our childhoods.”

Feb 5, 2025 10:30 AM CST

ABA supports victims of California wildfires

The ABA is mobilizing to help victims of the devastating wildfires in Southern California.

Jan 15, 2025 12:11 PM CST

Federal judges lose homes in Southern California wildfires

Updated: At least 36 judges and employees in federal and state courts have lost their homes in the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area over the past week.…

Jan 14, 2025 9:32 AM CST

Top news stories of 2024

Every year, we like to give our readers a peek behind our analytics and share which of our stories got the most traffic. For 2024, we're sharing the top 10 news stories written for ABAJournal.com and the top five articles that also appeared in our magazine. The Second Amendment, law school rankings and retirement for lawyers all drew attention this year.

Dec 24, 2024 8:00 AM CST