Press Release | NLSVCC

National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium Sponsors First Law School Clinical Conference & Named a Veteran Service Organization

Mar 5, 2018 | Press Release

The NLSVCC welcomed U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, MD; VA General Counsel Byrne; CAVC Judges Davis and Allen, esteemed panelists and speakers, including scholars from national university legal advocacy programs, and veterans advocates from around the nation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 5, 2018 – The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (Law Schools for Vets) held its first veterans law conference on February 28 and March 1. The conference was designed to promote best practices in pro bono veteran advocacy throughout nationwide law school legal clinics and other veterans legal providers.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and Veterans Affairs General Counsel James Byrne spoke on the first day of the event, highlighting the continued importance of these law school legal programs and their role in improving veterans’ outcomes. During his remarks, Secretary Shulkin announced that the National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium was officially recognized as the nation’s 93rd Veterans Service Organization (VSO).

Former Representative Jeff Miller, who chaired the U.S. House of Representative’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee from 2011-2017 and now a Senior Legislative Advisor with McDermott Will & Emery, introduced Secretary Shulkin, welcoming him and the participants to his firm’s Washington D.C. office.

“We were excited to welcome over 120 participants to this year’s conference. It is the first of what we hope are many future Law Schools for Vets conferences to discuss veterans issues in the legal and VA systems,” Ann Vessels, Conference Chair and Director of the Veterans Advocacy Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said. “We are especially grateful to VA Secretary Shulkin, VA General Counsel Byrne, and Judges Davis and Allen for taking time to address our group and share insights on our unified mission of helping veterans obtain the services and benefits they have earned.”

In addition to recognizing the group’s VSO status, Secretary Shulkin and General Counsel Byrne discussed the importance and need for legal services among veterans. Secretary Shulkin noted, “when you look at the top 10 needs of veterans, legal is there.”

“We are especially honored and excited that Secretary Shulkin has designated our group as a VSO,” Ed Olsen, M.D., J.D., Professor, University of Miami, said. “With this recognition comes even greater responsibility from our group to assist veterans and we look forward to rising to this challenge.”

Speaker presentations included seminars on improving overall clinic design, ongoing and upcoming VA reforms, assisting veterans with specific issues such as addiction, and working with Congressional offices. Conference attendees joined interactive breakout sessions on advocating for clients with PTSD, providing domestic violence legal aid, representation in military discharge upgrade cases, and how clinics can best work with private practitioners.

Supporting Veterans with Ongoing Legal Assistance
Securing reliable representation for veterans’ legal issues presents some of the most complicated issues facing veterans today. For example, disability compensation claims constitute a complex process with significant regulatory and factual issues. By providing pro bono representation, Law Schools for Vets clinics offer coverage for veterans’ claims and other critical legal services. As several presenters noted, obtaining legal services can be a lifeline to veterans and their families.

Training Next Generation Lawyers Who Continue to Assist Veterans
Acquiring legal assistance is a well-known barrier within the veteran community, with many servicemen and women unable to find dependable, affordable representation. Yelena Duterte, Director of Syracuse University College of Law’s Veterans Legal Clinic, noted, “clinicians and staff members from the Consortium’s members recognize this gap in the demand for veteran access to legal services and work tirelessly with veterans and their families to improve their outcomes.” Professor Duterte went on to note, “training law students to become engaged as veterans advocates during their law school years means more lawyers are gaining valuable experience and are better equipped to represent veterans after they leave law school and join firms, many of which also offer pro bono veterans legal services.”

“The advantage to pro bono clinics collaborating is immense. Clinics learn about successful strategies employed by other law school programs, share best practices, and collaborate with other clinicians on legal and practical issues,” said Stacey-Rae Simcox, Consortium board member and Director of the Veterans Advocacy Clinic at the Stetson University College of Law. “Law Schools for Vets provides professors and students with tools and training that individual clinics could not provide on their own. We’re proud of our initiatives to help law students serve veterans throughout their law school matriculation and beyond graduation.”

“Legal clinics have secured a critical position on law school campuses, cementing student opportunities to practice law before graduation and gain hands-on client experience,” said Brian Clauss, a board member and Director of the Veterans Legal Support Center at the John Marshall Law School. “This conference is instrumental in veterans issues collaboration by unifying clinics and their most effective practices.”

At the 2018 National Conference on Law Clinics Serving Veterans, participants included law school veteran legal clinic professors and students, non-profit veterans advocates, private firm attorneys, and other stakeholders working to address the enormous challenges in providing veteran services and advocacy.

Law Schools for Vets gratefully acknowledges the pro bono contributions of McDermott Will & Emery, as well as the efforts of Douglas Dziak, Christopher DeLacy, Andrew Emerson, and Dimitri Karakitsos of Holland & Knight LLP, which has provided countless pro bono hours in helping to establish and advise the Law Schools for Vets clinics.

Law Schools for Vets is also grateful to our conference sponsors, including the National Veterans Legal Services Program, the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, Seyfarth & Shaw, Skadden, the Clinical Legal Education Association, Attorney Sean Kendall, LexisNexis, NOVA, Prevail, Hill & Pontoon, and Clio. The contributions and efforts of contributors have already resulted in significant benefit to members of the Law Schools for Vets and, most importantly, the veterans they serve.

About The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium
The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (Law Schools for Vets) is a collaborative effort of the nation’s law school legal clinics dedicated to addressing the unique needs of U.S. military veterans on a pro bono basis while educating future attorneys.

The Consortium’s mission is, working with like-minded stakeholders, to gain support and advance common interests with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Congress, state and local veterans service organizations, court systems, educators and all other entities for the benefit of veterans throughout the country. For more information, visit http://nlsvcc.org.

For more information contact:

Yelena Duterte
yduterte@law.syr.edu

Stacey-Rae Simcox
ssimcox@law.stetson.edu

Ann Vessels
avessels@law.du.edu

NLSVCC and VA Sign Agreement Supporting Pro Bono Legal Services for Veterans

Nov 20, 2017 | Press Release

On Monday, November 13, 2017, the National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC), the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program (TVC), signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This innovative agreement is a joint mission to improve access to legal resources for veterans and their families, increase the number of free legal clinics, including law school veteran clinics, and expand the number of VA hosted medical legal partnerships (MLP).

The MOA specifically addresses the need to: (1) establish regularly held free legal clinics in all VA medical centers; (2) improve access to legal services for veterans in rural areas; (3) increase the number of law school clinics serving veterans; (4) encourage VA collaboration with MLPs and law school clinics to address veterans’ medical needs in relation to legal problems; and (5) engage in partnerships with law schools and community organizations to improve the quality of the resources provided. The signing event featured remarks from VA Deputy Secretary Thomas G. Bowman, VA General Counsel Jim Byrne, and the signatory organizations. NLSVCC Board Member Edwin J. Olsen, MD, JD, MBA, signed on behalf of the NLSVCC, and NLSVCC’s pro bono counsel, Chris DeLacy and Doug Dziak, from Holland & Knight attended the ceremony.

The not-for-profit NLSVCC was established in 2016 to address the need for increased access to legal services for veterans. The NLSVCC includes representatives from over two dozen law schools, as well as relationships with Legal Aid offices and other community groups focused on veterans from across the country. NLSVCC was created to coordinate the provision of pro bono legal services to veterans, and to promote the interests of veterans before federal entities such as the VA, U.S. Congress, and state and local veteran service organizations. William & Mary Law School Vice Dean Patricia Roberts, President of the Board for NLSVCC, notes that “by working together, law school clinics serving veterans are training law students to be skillful and ethical attorneys who understand our nation’s responsibility to care for our veterans.”

Photo of NLSVCC’s Dr. Olsen giving remarks, which included reference to the late Bill Russo, long-term VA employee and tremendous supporter of law clinics serving veterans.

NLSVCC members work together on advocacy efforts, including joint amicus briefs to encourage systemic change benefitting veterans; host national conferences to train others how to provide pro bono legal services to veterans (next scheduled for spring 2018); and share best practices among members and community partners such as the VA, the ABA and TVC.

If you are interested in learning more about NLSVCC, becoming a member, or making a donation, please visit www.nlsvcc.org. For more information about this memorandum, and NLSVCC’s work, contact Patty Roberts at perobe@wm.edu or Stacey-Rae Simcox at ssimcox@law.stetson.edu.

The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium Unveiled; Provides Best Practices to Legal Clinics, Students on the Front Line for Veterans

Nov 9, 2016 | Press Release

Collaboration Cultivates Pro Bono Legal Clinic Programs to Ensure America’s Veterans Are Not Navigating the Legal System Alone

Law students are often veterans first line of defense at pro bono law school legal clinics across the U.S.
Attribution: David Morrill, The Puller Clinic

WAKEFIELD, Mass., USA – Nov. 11, 2016 – The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC), today, Veterans Day, announced that it has formally launched operations to foster best practices to pro bono veteran advocacy programs at law school legal clinics nationwide. The Consortium aims to establish a long-term collaborative relationship among member institutions to help advance positive systemic change for veteran legal advocacy services such as applying for disability benefits, addressing civil legal needs and assisting in Veteran Treatment Courts.

The NLSVCC founding members include the Lewis B. Puller, Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic (“The Puller Clinic”) at William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Va.; the Veterans Advocacy Clinic at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla.; and the Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Ill.

“Veterans make up seven percent of the U.S. population, and research shows that legal support ranks as one of their highest unmet needs. We encourage law school veterans clinics to join the NLSVCC to share best practices and ideas for developing innovative training curricula that can ultimately be implemented in veterans law clinics across the country,” said Patricia Roberts, chair of the NLSVCC, director and clinical professor of law, The Puller Clinic. “In celebration of Veterans Day, veterans should know how very grateful we are for their service to our country. If you wore the uniform and need legal assistance, law school legal clinics can often be the best first step to obtaining justice, benefits or even a roof overhead.”

Veterans’ Unmet Legal Needs Continue to Grow

With 1.4 million veterans living below the poverty line and 50,000 veterans currently homeless, finding legal assistance in time to make a difference can seem impossible. A new study from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports that at least five out of the top 10 problems contributing to homelessness among the 6,000 veterans surveyed are unlikely to be solved without legal help. In addition, veterans suffering from service-connected disabilities seeking disability compensation from the VA face a complex claims process with crushing backlogs and wait times. Veterans appealing a denied disability claim must wait four to five years on average for a hearing, according to the VA.

Best Practices on Pro Bono Help for Veterans, Real-world Work Experiences for Law Students

The Consortium founding members have skilled clinicians and staff who have been trained to work specifically with veterans and their families, and law students. Member clinic lawyers and law students will be able to maximize their impact by working in partnership with other associations and non-profit groups to navigate the challenges being faced by veterans and service members.

“We’ve found that the veterans claim process is so complex, pro bono clinics immediately benefit from understanding where other programs have achieved successful outcomes for veterans,” Stacey-Rae Simcox, Esq., a board member and the director of the Veterans Advocacy Clinic at Stetson University College of Law. “In addition to serving veterans, we see the NLSVCC as an outstanding way for legal clinics to leverage curriculum best practices when training the next generation of lawyers.”

At the 2015 Second Annual National Conference on Law Clinics Serving Veterans in Washington D.C., dozens of law school veteran legal clinics identified that a consortium of legal clinics, legal professionals, and law students would be uniquely qualified to share best practices and explore synergies that aid veterans nationwide.

“Over the past few years, law school legal clinics have collaborated on amicus briefs, books, conferences, articles, and legislative priorities, among other activities,” said Brian Clauss, a board member, and director of the Veterans Legal Support Center at the John Marshall Law School. “The Consortium will continue to be a unifying force to share best practices and encourage the development of additional law school clinics. We also are actively seeking solutions to achieve long-term sustainability for the initiative.”

The Consortium is aided by the pro bono government relations services of Christopher DeLacy and Andrew Emerson of Holland & Knight LLP along with Douglas Dziak of Nixon Peabody LLP, each of whom has been providing countless pro bono hours in creating and advising the Consortium. Their efforts have already resulted in significant benefit to the members of the NLSVCC and the veterans they serve.

About The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium

The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC) is a collaborative effort of the nation’s law school legal clinics dedicated to addressing the unique legal needs of U.S. military veterans on a pro bono basis. The Consortium’s mission is, working with like-minded stakeholders, to gain support and advance common interests with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Congress, state and local veterans service organizations, court systems, educators and all other entities for the benefit of veterans throughout the country.

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Acceptance of any contribution, gift or grant is at the discretion of the NLSVCC. The NLSVCC will not accept any gift unless it can be used or expended consistently with the purpose and mission of the NLSVCC, the primary purpose of which is to serve Veterans. Law schools across the nation are tasked with equipping future attorneys with the skills necessary to competently and professionally represent their clients' interests as well as instill a sense of service. As a result, law schools and their students are uniquely suited to serve U.S. military Veterans in a way that distinguishes them from many other types of organizations serving Veterans. The need for pro bono legal services for Veterans is overwhelming and will likely remain so. The Consortium's attorneys and law students have recognized and established the Consortium to address this need. The Consortium was established in 2017 to provide a unified voice to identify and advance the law school clinics and their Veteran client's interests before the VA, U.S. Congress, and other federal entities.

No irrevocable gift, whether outright or life-income in character, will be accepted if under any reasonable set of circumstances the gift would jeopardize the donor’s financial security.

The NLSVCC will refrain from providing advice about the tax or other treatment of gifts and will encourage donors to seek guidance from their own professional advisers to assist them in the process of making their donation.
The NLSVCC will accept donations of cash or publicly traded securities. Gifts of in-kind services will be accepted at the discretion of the NLSVCC Board.

Certain other gifts, real property, personal property, in-kind gifts, non-liquid securities, and contributions whose sources are not transparent or whose use is restricted in some manner, must be reviewed prior to acceptance due to the special obligations raised or liabilities they may pose for NLSVCC.

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The NLSVCC will respect the intent of the donor relating to gifts for restricted purposes and those relating to the desire to remain anonymous. With respect to anonymous gifts, the NLSVCC will restrict information about the donor to only those staff members with a need to know.

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