Of Counsel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Disaster legal preparedness is the work one does before a disaster to make sure their laws, authorities, contracts, and legal processes are ready to be used quickly and effectively during and after an emergency. In 2025, the Federal Government began stepping back from disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation funding. The Administration has signaled its intent to transfer response responsibilities to states, has fought in court for the ability to terminate disaster mitigation funding, and wants FEMA and states to become less bureaucratic and faster in distributing needed support to communities after disasters. The laws, rules, and policies will change - but exactly how is not yet known. This session is intended to help local, tribal, and territorial governments improve their legal preparedness to reduce reliance on state and federal support and make it easier to get state and federal support when it is needed. Smaller governments often lack an in-house experienced emergency management attorney or outside counsel with emergency management experience and may not know where to start. This session offers attendees ideas for actions they can take to strengthen their disaster legal preparedness.
