About The Veterans Law Project

The Veterans Law Project:  Prepared by Tara Sue Clark & Craig Kabatchnick

Working with veteran service organizations, commissions and councils, the Veterans Law Project works to network, create and fund law clinics throughout the country to provide pro bono legal services to pro se veterans.   

The Protracted Cost of War   

A strong national defense demands more than war-time service and peace time intelligence; it requires the ongoing fulfillment of the debts owed to military families who’ve paid and served.  Unfortunately, the short sight of military engagement and administration leaves many survivors lost, struggling and without hope in a burdened veterans care system.  The Veterans Foundation finds that civilian groups who actively participate in the lives of veterans have a better understanding of the role that they serve as citizens and how this role so dramatically affects the lives of others.  The Veterans Law Project is one such program designed to assist military families with pro bono legal services while educating law students, legislators and the public at large to improve the relationship between the state and federal government, the public and servants to all of the above.

The Problem    

Title 38 U.S.C. 3404(c) limits to $10 the fee that may be paid an attorney or agent who represents a veteran seeking benefits from the Veterans' Administration (VA) for service-connected death or disability.  “Invalidation of the fee limitation would frustrate Congress' principal goal of wanting the veteran to get the entirety of the benefits award without having to divide it with an attorney. Invalidation would [473 U.S. 305, 306]   also complicate a process that Congress wished to be as informal and non-adversarial as possible.” 

The VA process has become both formal and adversarial.  The Board of Veterans Appeals is staffed entirely by experienced attorneys, and often they deny claims because of legal defects in the processing of the VA claim by the pro se veteran at the rating determination level; defects that could be avoided with competent legal assistance.   “An attorney can only receive compensation after the VA has rendered a final Board of Veterans Appeals decision on a veteran’s initial or reopened claim. This fact, coupled with the fee limitation, creates a vast void in legal representation that has resulted in a great need for competent legal assistance to protect the rights of veterans.“

The VA has been consistently under staffed and under financed while veterans are unable to obtain the assistance of legal counsel in the processing of their VA claims, which can be an arduous process for many whom such assistance would be invaluable.

The Solution   

Through the development of law clinics nation wide we will educate law students, train other volunteer lawyers to perform this work and create a pool of attorneys who will assist in answering the need for military family legal assistance without placing additional burdens on the VA system.  The Veterans Law Project will work with veterans’ service officers, veteran service organizations and the Veterans Administration within each state to become a value added support system working for our veteran community.  The VLP will acquire advisory committees from the established from these groups and organizations to oversee their state clinics and ensure a complementary procedure of working together. 
    

Supporting Groups and Organizations   

The Veterans Law Project is gaining support throughout the nation from veteran’s service organizations including, but not limited to Veterans of Foreign Wars Departments, veteran’s councils, commissions and universities with more exploring the possibilities daily.  The project is a viable, practical and a non-adversarial way to provide legal services within the confines of state and federal law.

To become a part of the solution, join the VLP today.  Get listed in our Legal Resources Guide or engage a Veterans Law Clinic at your school or university.