News from the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Public Information Contacts: Linda Van Zandt / Joanne Vuoso / Lisa Krueger

908.231.7020 publicinfo@co.somerset.nj.us

August 2008

Pro Bono Legal Services Available

to Military Personnel and Their Families

The Somerset County Board of Freeholders reminds local military personnel that they can take advantage of a Somerset County-based program that can help them and their families with various legal matters.

Somerville attorney Drew Hurley has recruited his fellow attorneys to provide free legal services to local service men and women and their families with legal problems that have arisen due to their military service. These may include employment, credit and landlord-tenant issues, among others. The service was first activated in April 2003, shortly after the start of the Iraq war.

The program’s special telephone number, staffed by volunteers from the county Office of Volunteer Services, is (908) 704-6358.

Somerset County service men and women and their immediate families are eligible for the free legal services program. This includes members of the National Guard and Reserves, as well as military personnel on active duty. With many National Guard soldiers and reservists now returning from duty in the Middle East, the program has attracted renewed interest.

“We can’t do enough to help the men and women who are serving our country under incredibly difficult and dangerous conditions,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Rick Fontana, county human services liaison. “This program is a wonderful cooperative effort between Somerset County legal community and our Office of Volunteer Services. We’re proud to be a part of it.”

Mr. Hurley, a former Franklin Township municipal judge and public defender, organized a similar program on behalf of the New Jersey State Bar Association in 1991 during the Gulf War. He himself served with the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 108^th Air Refueling Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, retiring in 1995 with the rank of major.