Wills for Heroes to provide free legal services to first responders

The Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program’s “Wills for Heroes” project has enlisted volunteer, local attorneys to provide free legal services for first responders in Lee County.

The clinic will be held in two sessions Sept. 15 and 16 — from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. and from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m. — at the East Alabama Medical Center Health Resource Center, 2027 Pepperell Parkway in Opelika.

Wills for Heroes is open to all first responders in Lee County, which include police officers, sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, paramedics, city and volunteer firefighters and emergency management agency personnel.

First responders whose net worth is less than $600,000 can choose to have up to three legal documents drafted at no cost — simple wills, advance healthcare directives and powers of attorney.

Typically, it costs about $1,000 to have all three documents prepared by a lawyer, according to Wills for Heroes Alabama program coordinator and healthcare attorney John Little. Each client will fill out a questionnaire, which can be downloaded at http://www.alabar.org. An attorney will review the questionnaire at the clinic and enter the information into a computer program. The process will take up to an hour for each client, Little said. All volunteer attorneys are members of the Lee County Bar Association.

This is the first time the pro bono clinic has been offered in Lee County and the first time the program has used an online registration system, Little said.

Clinic participants must register online through an employer representative by Friday. If time slots are available, the program will take some walk-in clients, Little said.

“We’re hoping to have approximately 100 clients,” Little said.

The Wills for Heroes program was created four years ago by a South Carolina attorney as a response to the Sept. 11 tragedy.

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