text: Law Practice Today | April 2011 | Emergency Preparedness
  Special Edition: Dealing with Disasters - Emergency Preparedness
  A Joint Effort of the Law Practice Management Section and the ABA's Special Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness
  On March 11, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near the northeastern coast of Japan, causing extensive and catastrophic damage and triggering massive tsunami waves minutes after the quake. Thousands of people perished. Millions more were injured and affected by a lack of shelter, food, electricity and water. The threat of radiation exposure from the impacted nuclear reactors has even hit the United States.
  Television and Internet reports brought many of us back to images from Hurricane Katrina. And, once again, provided a stark reminder that natural disasters (along with "man-made" terroristic threats) are a reality—regardless of where you work or reside—and must be appropriately planned for.
  As the Immediate Past Chair of the ABA Law Practice Management Section, I witnessed first-hand the donation of time and money that our members have contributed in times of need and despair, from 9/11 to Katrina, and now in Japan. Another responsibility of our section is to provide important information and advice on topics that can adversely affect business management. It is with these thoughts in mind that LPT steps away from our "regularly scheduled programming" to address the extremely important area of emergency preparedness.
  A special thanks to George B. Huff, Jr., Special Advisor, Special Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness, for providing the nationally-known experts who have served as special contributors to LPT. The ABA's Business Continuity Management System will be completed, externally audited and certified to international standards. We look forward to completion of this initiative by the late summer/early fall of this year.
  I have the privilege of serving as this issue's editor as a member of the Law Practice Today editorial board. In reading the emergency preparedness articles, I was fascinated by the legal issues that often accompanied efforts to plan for and protect us from disasters. I'd much rather read and write about marketing, management, finance and technology. But this is an unavoidable reality in our world, and you need to plan accordingly.
  Micah U. Buchdahl is an attorney focused on assisting law firms with business development initiatives. He is immediate past chair of the ABA's Law Practice Management Section. Micah can be reached at www.HTMLawyers.com.
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