By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

"House of D," a documentary chronicling the week that University at Buffalo Law School students spent aiding New Orleans residents with their legal needs, will make its debut this Wednesday.

"I hope that the film will give even a minimal level of insight into the legal challenges facing New Orleans residents, the daily struggle that attorneys have to help the rebuilding process, and the need that still exists for law-student volunteers to go there and help out," said the filmmaker, third-year UB Law student Burton Phillips.

The documentary, which follows students who participated in the first "bridge course" of its kind at UB Law in their service trip to New Orleans, will be shown from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in the Law School Conference Center on the fifth floor of O'Brian Hall on UB's Amherst campus.

The film's title refers to the nickname the students gave the Orleans Parish House of Detention, where some of the students represented detainees and prisoners.

"The sign on the outside of the building was damaged in the storm, and ‘House of D' is all that remains, even two-and-a-half years later," Phillips said.

It took him about seven weeks to edit the documentary after filming was complete.

While working at the Orleans Public Defenders Office, visiting New Orleans Legal Assistance or touring the affected areas, the students learned how difficult the rebuilding process is for residents of New Orleans.

"There are challenges they still face, from physical, emotional and legal viewpoints, and I think that point gets lost when we see on the news that Bourbon Street and the French Quarter are back up and running," Phillips said. "The problems in the city existed before Katrina, were exacerbated by Katrina, and still linger on today."

The people the students met in the legal community were the "epitome" of public-interest lawyers, Phillips said.