Wills for Heroes and

Service LearningSharon Thompson, Associate Vice-President, Dean, Liberal

StudiesKathleen M. Smith, Chair, Department of Social Science

David Freeman, Associate Professor, Social Science

Providing “real world” skills

The value of service

Community engagement

Service Learning

Locating Service Learning Opportunities Non-Profits, Community Organizations The Value of (Service-learning) Projects that

are “turn-key.”

Service Learning and Partnerships

What can your students actually do?

How much training might be necessary?

Availability of training resources?

What is a realistic time commitment for your students?

Can the skills they have be effective within the timeframe permitted?

Doing a Skills Assessment of Your Students

Willing to commit to a first step

Flexible enough to recognize the need for adjustments to accommodate service learning

An organized project model in place

Profile of a Service Learning Partner

Wills for Heroes

“Excellent! Everyone was a pleasure to work with and so helpful. A++ service. Thank you!!- Anonymous comment from client survey

Created following 9/11, this non-profit sought to address the need for first-responders to have end-of-life instructions for their survivors.

Wills for Heroes - Its History

To address the need for first responders to have estate planning documents.

Despite the inherently dangerous nature of their jobs, an overwhelmingly large number of first responders – approximately 80-90% do not have even simple wills.

Wills for Heroes - Its Purpose

Young Lawyer’s DivisionPennsylvania Bar Assoiation

http://www.pabar.org/public/yld/Projects/willsforheroesyld.asp

The program operates throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Bar Association, Young Lawyer’s Division hosts the Wills for Heroes/Pennsylvania site.

First Responders are pre-screened prior to the event

Screening diverts first responders whose financial circumstances are not a good match for the Wills for Heroes assistance.

Recruiting First Responders

First Responders complete an estate planning questionnaire.

This allows participants to think through and talk about a number of important decisions with their loved ones.

First Responder Questionnaire

Wills For Heroes Pennsylvania Estate Planning Questionnaire

Estate planning documents for each participating first responder are produced in about one hour.

http://www.pabar.org/public/yld/Projects/willsforheroesyld.asp

How a Wills for Heroes Day Works

An incentive for a volunteer attorney is the opportunity for obtaining Continuing Legal Education credits.

Training for Attorney and Paralegal

We obtained one credit of continuing legal education for the training session that precedes the event.

Once this credit was obtained, we offered the training free of charge.

Incentives for Volunteer Attorneys

The training session prior to meeting appointments is conducted by volunteer, experienced attorneys.

This training is on the site of the event, takes about one hour and provides an opportunity to evaluate the software program that will prepare the wills and other documents

Pre-Appointment Training

The software program, HotDocs, prepares the questionnaire that is used and creates the estate planning documents: Will, Medical Directive and Durable Power of Attorney.

Student volunteers are trained in the use of this software as part of their class in Legal Technology or at a separate session.

Software Training for Student Volunteer Paralegals

Upon arrival, First Responders are teamed with attorney and paralegal team, with appointments being scheduled each hour.

Hourly Appointments

Paralegal and attorney review the questionnaire and create a draft of the documents.

Creation of Draft Will

Following creation, volunteer “experts” review the draft with the clients.

Review

Following review, the final version of all the documents are created and clients are forwarded to a Notary station

Final Version

The Notary Station is the point at which the clients and witnesses execute their documents.

Following execution, all documents notarized and clients leave with a fully-executed package of documents.

Notary Station

In an effort to evaluate the experience of our students, a survey was crafted and administered through the website, Survey Monkey.

Sample Questions:

1. What if any did you learn from this service-learning project about technology or wills?

2. What if any did you learn about working with clients and attorneys?

Student Assessment

Reinforced the value of skills learned

Value of service learning to reinforce the usefulness of skills. “I was use to just typing out a will and not really sure

what everything meant. The hot docs program allows you  to see the breakdown of the formation provided by the client and how it becomes a legal document.”

“I felt very comfortable working with the clients and it was an enjoyable experience. I would like to continue to volunteer in the future.”

Student Assessment Responses