The ABA’s top leaders gathered for breakfast with members of the GP Solo and Small Firm division Saturday during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles to brainstorm how the association can better demonstrate its value to lawyers in small and solo practices.

In the weeks following Sept. 11, 2001, Anthony Hayes, a South Carolina lawyer in the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division, asked local firefighters and police what he could do to help their day-to-day lives. His question turned up a surprising truth: Despite the intense dangers of their jobs, many public safety workers lacked even basic wills to care for their family’s needs.

There are approximately 532,000 children in foster care in the United States. Each year more than 20,000 teenagers turn 18 and leave their foster homes. In many states, youth “age out” of the system at their 18th birthday, and when they do, they often don’t have the necessary resources to begin a successful life on their own.