On June 12, 2010, young lawyers with the New Jersey State Bar Association drafted free wills and estate-planning documents for 50 first responders who work at Ellis Island.
The members of the state bar's Young Lawyers Division provided the service through Wills for Heroes for members of the U.S. Park Police and National Park Service.
The program is a nonprofit organization created after September 11, 2001, when thousands of first responders risked their lives and more than 400 firefighters and police officers died. Many first responders do not have estate plans. Through Wills for Heroes, volunteer lawyers provide free legal estate-planning services. To date, volunteers have prepared more than 10,000 estate-planning documents for first responders around the country.
The Young Lawyers Division launched this project in Edison in February 2009 and has held events across the state.