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Bar News - January 9, 2004 Lawyers Respond to Soldiers' Legal Needs THE CALL UP to active duty of several hundred National Guard and Reserve soldiers whose units are based in New Hampshire has heightened the demand for short-notice legal services on behalf of military personnel. On December 13 – with less than a week’s notice – four New Hampshire attorneys and support personnel from law firms and the Bar’s legal services department mobilized to provide assistance with new or updated wills or powers of attorney for reservists and Guard members preparing for an 18-month deployment to Iraq in early January. At the session, held at the National Guard Armory in Manchester, the volunteers provided assistance to 20 soldiers, according to Pam Dodge, assistant Pro Bono coordinator. Dodge worked with Peter Duffy, a colonel in the New Hampshire Army National Guard Judge Advocate General Corps and a Manchester attorney, in organizing the session. Assisting at the event were attorneys Susan Hassan, of Concord; Deborah Cooper, of Lebanon; Rose Costello, of Manchester; and Shawn McCarthy, of Weston, Mass. The attorneys brought their own laptop computers and drew up documents on the spot to assist the soldiers in putting their legal affairs in order before departure. Also assisting – primarily witnessing the wills and providing other support – were paralegal Brenda Beer, of the McLane law firm; and Pam Dodge, Cindee Carter and Carolann Wooding, of the Pro Bono staff. Also volunteering were Robin Brown, of the Lawyer Referral Service; Heather Logan, Pierce Law student and Pro Bono intern; and Cassie Wooding, Carolann’s daughter and a college student and summer employee at the Bar. In addition to providing assistance at the mobilization event, several of the attorneys made arrangements to discuss more complicated matters with soldiers after the event. Hassan, for example, was able to assist several reservists with matters in Massachusetts, where she is also admitted to practice. The Pro Bono Program is also aware that a number of other attorneys throughout the state have been generously giving their time to help men and women called to active duty take care of legal matters before going overseas. (If you would like to help soldiers with legal matters, contact NHBA Associate Executive Director Ginny Martin or Pro Bono Coordinator Carolann Wooding at 224-6942.) Duffy, who oversees legal matters for the reservists (he is not being deployed), said the Bar’s help has been invaluable in the process. Duffy has also been a prime mover in the creation of a new Military Law Section of the New Hampshire Bar Association. The NHBA Board of Governors on Nov. 13 approved the new Section, the 20th substantive law section of the Bar. Bar Forms New Military Law Section The goal of the Military Law Section is to educate the Bar on military legal issues arising under federal and state law affecting soldiers and their families. These issues are arising with greater frequency in the U.S. given the high level of deployment of active and reserve military personnel post-9/11. The Section will also promote the delivery of volunteer legal services from members of the Bar to soldiers and their families during mobilization. Examples of frequent military legal issues facing practitioners are the enforcement of a soldier’s rights under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act; and enforcement of the rules governing the award of military retirement pay and military benefits to former military spouses in divorce litigation. An initial organizational meeting will be held in the near future. Further information will be forthcoming. Attorneys interested in joining this Section can pay a prorated fee of $15, which can be paid now by contacting Anne Breault at the Bar Association at abreault@nhbar.org or by calling 224-6942.
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