Getting Past Maybe: Planning for Legal Hazards Through the Disaster Cycle

Sun. 3:30-5:00 p.m., Pine

If disasters are by definition unusual events, and lawyers' pet word is "maybe," then how can emergency planners make any useful assessment of legal hazards? In this session, lawyers and emergency managers will present new schemes for quantifying legal risk, and discuss common legal myths that act as barriers to planning and action, real legal threats on the horizon, and getting competent legal advice. The discussion will examine problems throughout the entire disaster cycle, including new threats to mitigation and seizure activities.

Gerard Hoetmer, Moderator
Public Entity Risk Institute

Edward Thomas, Panelist
Michael Baker Jr., Inc.

Lisa Sun, Panelist
Brigham Young University Law School

Sam Riley-Medlock, Panelist
Association of State Floodplain Managers