Out-of-state lawyers can temporarily register with the North Carolina State Bar to provide pro bono legal services to victims of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene, following an order by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The court approved the North Carolina State Bar’s temporary rule amendment on October 1. The temporary rule, expiring in January 2025, allows lawyers licensed in other states but not in North Carolina to register with the North Carolina State Bar and begin immediately providing pro bono legal services through a legal services organization to indigent residents of North Carolina who are victims of Helene without first obtaining approval from the State Bar Council.

Lawyers interested in providing pro bono services under the order can fill out this registration form and return it to the North Carolina State Bar using the instructions provided.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on September 26 and caused significant impacts across a large portion of the southeastern United States, particularly the southern Appalachians, according to the National Weather Service.