By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
KEYPORT — A Monmouth County and borough native has been selected as Junior Civilian of the Year for his work as a legal assistant with the United States Navy.
“It is very touching,” said William Bonnell, serving Region Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic Branch Office Earle. “I am one tiny part of one great, big machine and the fact that I am able to make such a difference to receive this honor is incredible, and words can’t say what it means that my superiors recognize that I am able to make this contribution and be known.”
According to a release from the Navy Office of Community Outreach, the Civilian of the Year Program recognizes superior performance of personnel emphasizing outstanding achievements, exemplary personal conduct and military bearing, and demonstrated initiative in the performance of duty.
“It really is a great feeling to be able to provide no-cost services that these women and men need to take their minds off of whatever legal problems they might have and let them focus on the real mission that the military has,” Bonnell said. “Being able to do a job like this is quite an honor.”
Bonnell started his employment with the Navy in 2009. As a legal assistant, he is responsible for independently managing the Legal Assistance Department of Region Legal Service Office Mid-Atlantic Branch Office Earle, providing assistance and services to personnel throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Southern New York, as well as facilitating remote attorney legal assistance support for personnel throughout the Northeast.
“Basically we’re the front line as it relates to legal assistance for the service members,” Bonnell said. “People will either come into my office or call on the phone and they’ll have an issue, and it is my job to determine whether that issue is something I as a non-attorney personnel can deal with or if it’s something that requires an attorney’s advice.”
Bonnell said he is also able to notarize documents, draft powers of attorney, wills and documents of similar nature, as well as make sure personnel and their families can properly exercise their right to vote.
“We cover a broad spectrum of legal issues from adoptions to immigration to naturalization to divorces and everything in between [and] it is a good feeling to be able to support the personnel from the level that I am at, and I look forward to continuing it for a long time to come.”
Bonnell is a 1999 graduate of Keyport High School and a 2006 graduate of Monmouth University.
“I have been working in the legal profession since 1999,” he said. “I started out at a small mom-and-pop type legal firm in Keyport that was run by these two ladies.
“I had taken a business law course my senior year in high school and just really got interested in the law at that point, and the teacher of that class had jury duty and one of the attorneys she ran into ended up hiring me, so I started my senior year in high school and worked there for about the next seven years.”
Bonnell said he outgrew the position and what it had to offer and wanted to see what else was out there.
“I always had my eye on government service, but wanted to see what larger law firms had to offer, so I went to a larger law firm up in Woodbridge [but] corporate law didn’t really agree with me,” he said. “From there I knew I wanted to get into the government services eventually, so I obtained a six-month temporary employment with the National Park Service out of Sandy Hook … and then this dream job opened up here in Earle as a legal assistant for a small office … and there is a lot of people out their who do very similar, if not the same work I do, and this just goes to show how important that work for one of us to be chosen to receive an honor like this.”
