The National Agricultural Law Center is looking for lawyers to assist Hispanic and women farmers complete and submit claims forms in a non-judicial process to resolve past claims of discrimination in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Loan Programs for certain periods between 1981 and 2000. (Additional details about the HWFRCP are available on the official claims process website here and on the National Agricultural Law Center website here. The window to submit claims for this program began in September of 2012 and ends in March of 2013. Through the claims process, the United States government is making available $1.33 billion or more from the Judgment Fund for monetary awards, up to $160 million in debt relief, and, in some instances, tax relief for this claims process.

Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. and the National Agricultural Law Center are working with USDA to develop a network of attorneys willing to assist Hispanic and women farmers in completing and submitting claims forms. For more information, you can check out USDA’s Attorney Recruitment Notice here.

The names and contact information of attorneys who are part of the Legal Assistance Network will be widely and freely available to claimants interested in working with an attorney to complete the official Claim Form. In order to become part of the network, interested attorneys have to watch a training video and submit their contact information. Lawyers who do the training can either handle the claims (estimated 5-10 hours of work) pro bono or for a fee negotiated with the client.

If you are intereested, please contact Harrison Pittman, Director of the National Agricultural Law Center:

hmpittm@uark.edu
479-575-7640