September 05, 2007 Volume: 153 Issue: 174

High court panel pushes legal clinic for vets

Veterans pursuing disability claims will soon be able to find assistance at what's been described as the nation's first free legal clinic dedicated to them, court and state officials announced Wednesday at The John Marshall Law School.

The Veterans' Legal Support Center will focus on helping disabled veterans claim benefits from the government.

In addition to helping prepare disability claims, the center will maintain a statewide registry of attorneys who are both trained in the labyrinth of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and willing to work pro bono.

Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, who led off a news conference at John Marshall, began by quoting from the last paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address.

The president, about a month before his assassination, implored his countrymen ''to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.''

That sentiment was echoed by John Marshall Dean John E. Corkery, who said, ''There's a lot of disagreement about the war and its conduct, but there's very little disagreement about the need to support our veterans.''

The clinic will be led by Brian E. Clauss, an arbitrator and former Cook County assistant state's attorney.

''Our whole goal with the clinic and with the volunteer network of attorneys … is to have people available so that the 20-year-old that is suffering from whatever — you name it — and having to fill out all these forms, can have some assistance,'' Clauss said.

A key goal was to make sure that ''the initial file that gets to the VA is straight-up, so that there's nothing missing to further delay the process.''

The center is a joint effort of the law school and the Illinois Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism.

Executive Director Cheryl I. Niro said the idea of using the commission to bring lawyers together to help veterans was Fitzgerald's idea.

When Niro brought the matter to the commission, Corkery, one of 15 commissioners, said John Marshall was starting a veterans' clinic and suggested joining forces.

Ultimately, the effort drew support from the Supreme Court, John Marshall, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, LexisNexis and the state Department of Veterans' Affairs.

L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the state VA Department, was on hand to present a $100,000 grant to the center.

A wounded veteran herself, Duckworth said a recent Government Accountability Office report found that veterans who filed disability claims with assistance — from a state veterans' service officer, a private group like the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Legion, or an attorney — typically collect 30 percent to 50 percent more in benefits than someone who filed on his own.

''For those of you who served in uniform, it's a way of serving your country again,'' Duckworth said to the veterans in attendance. ''For those of you who have never had an opportunity to wear a uniform, it's your way of serving your country.''

After Wednesday's announcement, Duckworth, who lost parts of both legs when the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, walked to the back of the room to pose for photos. Standing with her brightly colored cane, she handed an oversize symbolic check to law school officials.

While John Marshall students help veterans prepare their initial application for benefits, volunteer lawyers will receive training in VA claims. They in turn will be asked to train other lawyers. The first group of volunteers will be taught by Ronald B. Abrams, a Washington-based lawyer and former VA official who has conducted similar sessions around the country.

Niro said she hoped the Commission on Professionalism, which is in its second year of operations, would continue to organize similar coalitions on different topics.

''We're a good convener and a good catalyst, and we can bring people under the umbrella of the Supreme Court,'' Niro said.

Lawyers who do help veterans file claims must be careful not to run afoul of federal laws that bar attorneys from representing veterans at the early stages of the benefits process.

Until July 1 of this year, that meant lawyers could participate only after a case went up on appeal in Washington — long after a claim was denied by local and regional officials.

But Nicholas Henry, a third-year John Marshall student and a charter member of the clinic, said lawyers may now become involved at the second phase of a claim (by comparison, he said, the Washington appeal is the fifth phase).

The change in the law also allows for contingency fees, but they are capped at 20 percent of arrearages and cannot be based on future benefits. 38 U.S.C. §5904.

''When you're talking about benefits that a veteran earned through their service, we [lawyers] don't want any part of that — that's what they've earned and we're here to alleviate that one thing we can help with.''

Henry, who served two tours in Iraq as a Marine lance corporal, recently attended Officer Candidates School and plans to become an active-duty member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps upon graduation.