As the city of West continues to rebuild the Society of St. Vincent De Paul invited their national team of lawyers to a town hall meeting Friday. The meeting focused on the different legal aspects of moving forward after a disaster.
The lawyers are from five different law firms across the country and have expertise in dealing with explosions. One of the lawyers helped clients in the 2010 Virginia mine explosions.
They are part of the Catholic Charities of Central Texas and came voluntarily to answer resident's questions and make sure they know their rights.
They addressed several topics that focused on the most common types of questions asked by people after disaster strikes. The lawyers focused on homeowners insurance and how to negotiate with resident's providers. They also discussed damage and property loss claims in addition to business loss and liability claims.
The lawyers also offered to look at resident's insurance claims for free and talked about what compensation they may be entitled to and advised residents to not try and handle the legal matters themselves.
They urged victims to get a copy of their insurance policies as soon as possible and to collect and take pre and post disaster photos that will help them with their claims. The lawyers also encouraged residents to get help if they're suffering from any of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
