Disaster Legal Document Assistant Help Desk

Wildfire relief

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The "Impact of 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires and Comparative Study" conducted by LACEDC calculates business disruptions within the fire perimeters at a projected $4.6B to $8.9B in lost economic output in LA County from 2025-2029, representing approximately 0.3 to 0.6 percent of the county’s total economic output. The fires could lead to employment losses totaling between 24,990 and 49,110 job-years and labor income reductions ranging from $1.9 billion to $3.7 billion. All 20,218 identified parcels within the burn areas, with the Palisades Fire affecting 10,658 properties (52.7%) and the Eaton Fire affecting 9,226 properties (45.6%), and all 1,863 businesses that were located within the fire zones, employing an estimated 9,610 workers and generating $1.4 billion in annual sales, with the Palisades Fire affecting 1,117 businesses (60.0%) and the Eaton Fire affecting 746 businesses (40.0%), will ALL require affordable legal document support services as they recover, rebuild, and restart.

Disaster Legal Document Assistant (LDA) Help Desk is an AI-enabled mobile kiosk program providing free, on-site legal-document support to wildfire-impacted residents and businesses across Los Angeles County. Mobile units equipped with AI-guided intake tools help survivors prepare inventory lists, FEMA and insurance claims, business-document reconstitution, tax-filing assistance, and IP restoration. Completed packets are routed to bonded LDAs and pro bono disaster attorneys for review and e-filing through automated legaltech platforms that error-check and track deadlines.
The help desks will be located on Ocean Front Walk in Venice and in City of Glendale to serve 1,863 businesses and 9,610 workers during the grant period.
Simultaneously, we train and employ up to 50 opportunity youth per wildfire season in paid apprenticeships, pairing them with LDAs and attorneys in a clinic model that leads to licensure by the CA State Bar. Through partnerships with emergency management agencies, community centers, and local chambers of commerce, kiosks will be deployed to serve all 1,863 businesses, and then 20,218 parcels, affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires.
Over 4 years, this initiative aims to process documentation to restore an estimated $1.4 billion in annual business sales capacity, track metrics on documents filed and claims approved, and place apprentices in legal-services careers—building a resilient, local disaster-relief workforce.

If the Disaster LDA Help Desk Project is successful, LA County will recover at a faster pace meanwhile preserving equity following wildfire shocks:
Accelerated economic rebound. Rather than suffering $4.6 billion–$8.9 billion in lost economic output over 2025–2029, businesses will restart sooner—shaving months off FEMA’s baseline recovery timeline—and recapturing a larger share of the county’s 0.3–0.6% GDP loss .
Jobs retained and restored. By guiding 1,863 businesses through critical filings, we’ll avert thousands of job-year losses (24,990–49,110 projected) and stabilize labor income that otherwise would shrink by up to $3.7 billion.
Secured tax revenues. Faster claims processing prevents up to $1.4 billion in foregone county and city taxes, bolstering public services.
Local workforce development. Paid apprenticeships for opportunity youth will seed a pipeline of skilled Legal Document Assistants and disaster attorneys, strengthening community resilience for future emergencies.