The fall break wills project enabled me to have hands-on experience serving clients who truly needed me. After two days of work I completed eleven documents for three wonderful individuals who would not have them otherwise. My favorite part of the project was not the fact that I could draft wills and power of attorney forms, though. The client-focused nature of the project was what made the trip so inspiring. I learned so much from interacting with my clients that I will never learn in a classroom. I witnessed a range of emotions and heard stories of amazing inner strength. I received hugs and many thanks for the help that we were providing, and that gratitude proved to me that law school was the right choice.

-Ashley McAlarney, 1L

Lawyers often spend much of their time working for others. Someone has a problem, you have the answers (hopefully), and a solution is drafted. The model assumes a one-way street, where the professional gives to the untrained. My experience with the Wills Trip was much more than a one-way street.

I had three clients over two days. They each knew what they wanted, and I had some idea how to help them get it. But I didn’t have all the answers. Each client presented a unique situation, something that I couldn’t have possibly been trained for. The problems ranged from reverse mortgages to land surveying—and I knew very little about both.

My supervising attorneys and my fellow students were great assets in our time-sensitive clinic. But my clients were great assets, too. I wasn’t the specialist with all of the answers. I couldn’t produce a will without the assistance of my client. I could never know their lives and last wishes better than them. Each client had his or her major goals, and we worked together to fill in the details.

Sometimes there is simply no work to be done for your client. Sometimes your job is just to be with them. Some of my fellow students realized this in the hardest way: the clinic wasn’t equipped to solve every legal problem that a client could need. The client may need to return another day because their problem was too complex for a one-day clinic.

But other times the problem wasn’t a legal one. Besides wills, we also drafted living wills and healthcare power of attorneys. Both of those documents deal with end of life care and are personal and demanding in a way I have rarely seen. There is nothing easy about deciding how you want to be treated in a future world of possibilities, all of them important—and none of them clear.

Sometimes your only job is to be with your client. Your job is just to sit with them, often in silence, as they deliberate about how they might “choose” to die. In that moment, you know that you are not on a one-way street. The trust that the client is sharing with you is perhaps more than you could ever give to them.

Having been in law school for about two months before the Wills Trip, I was losing focus. I know that all these hours spent learning will one day culminate in the ability to practice law, but practically speaking, applying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not seem that exciting. Before the Wills Trip, case briefing lost its glamour, the Socratic method lost its intimidation factor, and the library did not call my name as loudly as it once did. The excitement I had in August became the motivation I had in September; but in October, law school was starting to lose its stimulating factor.

If I ever needed a reminder about why I chose to pursue law as a career, the Wills Trip not only came at a perfect time, but created the perfect opportunity. Each client I served not only was thankful for my services, but patiently waited as I worked through material that was unfamiliar to me. I saw firsthand how my career as a lawyer will help others. Whether it means preparing a will for an Army veteran or drafting a power of attorney on an elderly client’s kitchen table, my time spent on the Wills Trip reinforced all that I imagined practicing law would be. Giving people access to legal services who would otherwise not have it is a special thing to be a part of. Even if I still haven’t fallen in love with promissory estoppel or proximate cause, I am now confident that mastering these concepts are but small steps towards a future that will be full of many more special opportunities.

When you only have two days of training under your belt, let alone barely three months of law school, it’s hard to feel confident that you know exactly what you’re doing. Before our first client arrived, I think I quadruple checked our documents and rearranged the setup on our table about three times. I was nervous, anxious and excited at the thought that I was about to write my first will. Turns out our client already had a will and just wanted us to review it. We were done in about five minutes. Before I knew it, I was packing up everything I had just set up and moving to another table in another room and helping a walk-in client who said, “I want the works.” He wanted every document we could give him. Fortunately from this trip I learned to be very flexible!

Drafting all our new client’s documents was a real learning experience for me. It’s one thing to look a blank template and feel that anyone could just fill in the blanks, but it’s another to work with your client through each question and realize, these are not simple yes or no questions nor are these documents ever going to be the same client to client. It felt really great that we were there helping these people work through big life decisions and provide legal services they may never have had access to.

The second day really brought the entire project home for me. We had a client who had recently lost a family member and because of a lack of legal documents went through so much chaos that she was not able to just mourn. At times it was difficult because I felt that I didn’t have all the answers nor did I know all the possibilities available for her. Luckily the supervising attorneys would sweep in and clarify all the gaps. It was comforting to see the attorney-client interactions and to think that one day I will be able to provide those answers for future clients. However, the most comforting piece of this interaction was knowing that today, because of our team effort, this client was going home with the security she needed for the future.

- Alexandra Suárez, 1L

Although each van ride, breakfast stop, client interview, and document preparation could provide enough material for me to start my own blog, I feel compelled to share two specific experiences that I will always take with me wherever my legal career goes.

For a variety of reasons, we couldn’t ethically draft a will for our third client.  It was incredibly difficult to force myself to step back from a platform on which all I wanted to do was help this poor, elderly woman.  With much-appreciated assistance from our supervising attorney, we informed her that we could not help her.  Saying no to her was incredibly difficult.  However much we as lawyers want to appear superhuman to our clients—that we can help them with anything—it was an invaluable lesson that sometimes it’s in our client’s best interest to send them home empty-handed.

Thankfully, the Aberdeen Habitat office we worked in on Saturday had its fair share of walk-in clients, so my partner and I didn’t have to end our Wills Trip experience with Client #3.  Our final client provided us an opportunity to prove to ourselves that we were capable of more than we may have initially thought.  Having worked with a standardized template all weekend to draft the various documents, we rarely deviated from the approved format, and if so, only very slightly.  Not so with Client #4.  Our client needed us to think outside the box and create unique articles that expressly (and more importantly, legally) outlined her particular wishes.  It felt incredible realizing that I, after less than three months of law school, had the ability to do this.

This trip was my first opportunity to see the partnership between UNC’s Pro Bono program and Legal Aid in action, working to bolster the legal health of the communities we serve by marrying law students’ needs for practical legal experience with North Carolina’s growing need for low-cost, client-centered legal services.

Client interaction is nothing new to me, thanks to my background in adult basic education, however the difference in the services provided is profound. Providing educational services is a long-term endeavor undertaken in partnership with a student over a protracted period of time. Though the impact of learning is real, it is slow to come and sometimes difficult to see.

An educator often never sees the fruits of her work with her students. While the legal repercussions won’t become apparent until the documents we created come into effect, perhaps not for many years, the impact of the work is immediate. Our clients came to us amidst a certain legal state of affairs and left in quite another. Reflecting on this difference led me to some compelling conclusions. With my students, it was never certain what the impact of our work would be; with our clients this weekend, the results were immediately apparent:

—Each will drawn up is one fewer burden on grieving families.

—Each power of attorney created by this project means one fewer urgent matter on a future court docket.

—Each document means one more connection forged between the legal profession and the community it purports to serve.

Rights unexercised are impotent; laws protecting such rights are rendered purposeless. By eliminating barriers to basic legal services, projects such as the wills trip empower individuals to take advantage of the full protection of the laws of the state, fostering the participation of all in our civil society.

Of course, the one-on-one contact with clients was also an incredibly valuable experience. At times it was difficult for me to keep from feeling sad for a client who was dealing with a rapidly degenerative illness and could only barely sign his name, or one who got teary-eyed as we discussed taking the name of her deceased husband out of her will. But practicing dealing with these emotional situations was good for me, and I know that the services we provided will help these clients to remain strong in dealing with their losses. I was impressed by the clients’ resolve and their willingness to be firm in their decisions about their health and property. I feel honored to have gotten to interact with them.

My first client had six adult children. He had grown up poor in rural South Carolina and worked in a shipping yard in Baltimore.  He was proud that one of his children graduated from UNC Chapel Hill and another was working on a college degree in Baltimore. A funny thing about this interview is that all of his children had a middle name except for the youngest. My drafting partner, Erika, theorized that after having six children he and his wife may have run out of names.

My second client had a mentally incompetent live-in daughter and wanted to assure that after she passed her daughter would have enough financial resources to continue living at the house so that she would not be institutionalized. Unfortunately, her situation was too complicated for a simple will. One of our supervising attorneys spoke with her and asked Legal Aid to refer her to an attorney in the area. We were, however, able to produce the other three documents for her.

On the final day I worked alone and met with two clients. I started working on my first client at nine and didn’t finish until two! By the time I finished I was very hungry and slightly grumpy, having missed lunch. Luckily, Bethan (the trip coordinator) kept me in mind and bought a sandwich for me somewhere along the way.  There was a brief moment of panic where I thought the sandwich had disappeared (REDRUM!) but we tracked it down.

I’m really glad I went on the wills trip. It was definitely an experience worth having. I enjoyed working with Erika, who was really good at translating legalese into plain English so that our clients understood their documents. And it’s a cool feeling to know that I have written documents that will have a real effect on someone’s life.

This was my second year participating in the Spring Break Pro Bono Trip to Eastern North Carolina.  I was especially excited this year because we went to Kinston, North Carolina – my birthplace.

Day One
We were stationed in Rocky Mount and my first client was a Carolina fan (we’re everywhere!).  While my client lived with one of his children and did not own a home, he still wanted to ensure that his personal property was split equally among all his children and requested we draft a will.  My skills were somewhat rusty even though I had drafted wills during the trip last year, but thanks to the supervising attorneys from Legal Aid of North Carolina and the UNC Center for Civil Rights, my skills were back intact in no time.

The second half of our day in Rocky Mount was less busy so I used my spare time to study flashcards for Wills, Trusts, and Estates, a class I’m currently taking.  I figured it would be a good way to review for finals while simultaneously preparing for two more days of will drafting.  I think the Pro Bono Board and Legal Aid did a great job training all participants for the wills trip but a little individual studying on the side doesn’t hurt. After wrapping up our first day, we were treated to some authentic eastern North Carolina cuisine at Gardner’s.  Everyone decided the buffet was the best route so we chowed down on chopped barbecue (both pork and turkey), fried chicken, slaw, Brunswick stew, collard greens, corn nuggets, hushpuppies, and a variety of other sides and desserts.  My eyes were much bigger than my stomach and I way too ambitious when making my plate.  I love southern comfort food but I hit my limit at Gardner’s and literally waddled out of the restaurant (but it was sooo worth the full stomach.)  You might think that after a long day of drafting documents topped off with a feast of smoked pig we would head to the hotel to get some Zzzzzzz’s…wrong!  Instead, we headed to local bar for some karaoke.  Let’s just say this: it’s probably a good thing that we’re aspiring lawyers and not aspiring singers

Day Two:
We rose early to arrive at our sites.  We  split into two teams – one to Scotland Neck and the other to Halifax/Weldon.  I was in the latter group, which was stationed at Halifax Community College.  My client wanted all four documents drafted – a will, a power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and a living will.  Unfortunately, we were unable to draft a will because her needs were best met by a trust, and Legal Aid is unable to draft trusts.  It was very disappointing not only for the client but for us as well because we really  want the client to leave with their needs met.  However, it was a good learning experience.  Even when you really want to make your client happy, you have limits.  We could have just drafted a will for the client but it would not have fulfilled her needs; just drafting something to make her happy for now and to increase our numbers would have been a serious disservice for the client and I’m proud we didn’t take that route.

After wrapping up our day in Halifax, we were reunited with the students stationed in Scotland Neck.  We dined at a Mexican restaurant much to the chagrin of one of the attorneys who wanted another round of barbecue at another local joint named Ralph’s.  After dinner, we joined the Center for Civil Rights attorneys at a city council meeting in Roanoke Rapids.  The Center was working with the community to prevent waste from being dumped on the fringes of the community as well as to have the community annexed so they could have access to the city police and fire resources.  The meeting was especially popular that night because of a proposed increase in sales tax.  It was great to see residents come out in such large numbers to voice their opinion on issues that impacted them directly.

Day Three:
The day I had been waiting for – the day we went to Kinston!  En route, we passed my high school’s arch-rival, the hospital where I was born, and other landmarks that reminded me I was home.  Wednesday was also special because it was our busiest day yet.  We had 40 clients scheduled and others on a waiting list.  This was a stark turnaround from a week earlier when Kinston only had 3 clients signed up and the trip coordinators were afraid we wouldn’t have enough clients for the clinic to be meaningful.  Thanks to the recruiting efforts of Bethan and Adam, we got our numbers up…waaaay up.  I did my part by making announcements at my church and giving flyers to my mom to put up at Lenoir Community College.  I knew there was a need in Kinston and I just wanted to make sure that this need was acknowledged.

By the time we opened up shop on Wednesday morning at the Kinston Enterprise Center, clients were already lined up down the hall.  To handle the long list of clients, we all worked solo rather than in pairs.  My first client knew exactly what she wanted – just a living will.  I had her taken care of before the printers were even set up, so I then helped another student draft documents for their client.  For lunch, we were treated to a pig picking catered by King’s Restaurant at Pearson Park.  Pearson Park had recently been renamed for Allen Pearson, Jr., a Lenoir County Deputy Sheriff killed in the line of duty in 2009.  There, we were privileged to meet with community leaders, including the mayor.  They commended us for spending our Spring Break helping Kinston residents and invited us back.  This gave me a warm fuzzy feeling…a common theme throughout the trip.

My final client of the trip wanted a will, power of attorney, and healthcare power of attorney.  When I delivered the documents and they were finally executed, she seemed so appreciative and relieved.  After packing up, we headed over to a local eatery called The Broken Eagle.  Kinston Criminal Defense Attorney, Jimbo Perry, joined us and encouraged us to focus our talents on changing the lives of others, one person at a time.  As the last pair of students finished drafting documents and walked into the restaurant just after 8 p.m., it became obvious that many of us were already well on our way to that goal.  By drafting wills and other documents to ensure the financial security of our clients and giving them peace of mind in the event of a health crisis, we were already changing lives one person at a time.

The Spring Break Pro Bono wills trips to Eastern and Western North Carolina are not just win-win situations, they are win-win-win situations because everyone involved benefits. Participating law students get practical skills in drafting important estate planning documents and client intake.  Legal Aid of North Carolina gets the opportunity to reach out to communities they ordinarily would not have the resources to handle.  Lastly and most importantly, our clients were able to gain access to justice and peace of mind about their family’s future.

I was personally impressed with the selflessness of many of our clients. Not only did they overcome any issues they had with mortality in order to make sure their loved ones were not burdened, many of the clients expressed concern for those in need and wanted to be able to care for them after their death.

One particularly touching and complicated case involved a woman who was caring for an undocumented man who was handicapped. She was concerned seeing as she wanted to ensure that that the man would be allowed to live in her home past her death but strongly desired that the home remained in her family. Recalling what I learned from Professor Orth, I made certain to change into my finest suit when handling my client’s case. Through the guidance of the supervising attorneys, I empowered the client by explaining the different types of estates she could establish and the advantages and disadvantages that each one would provide. Together, we formulated a plan that comforted my client.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of the experience was the gratitude I received from my clients. Knowing that I could provide a resource that otherwise would not have been there or would have been a financial burden made me feel that I could not have made better use of my time. I sincerely hope that I can utilize the skills I learned to assist other underrepresented clients and that UNC Law continues to sponsor this trip.