2024 Award Winners
Army
Fort Cavazos. TX
The Fort Cavazos Client Legal Service Office is recognized for its exceptional execution of Fort Cavazos' 2024 Retiree Appreciation Days. This two-day celebration is a testament to the Office’s unwavering dedication to honoring and expressing gratitude to those who have served across all military branches. Retired soldiers and their families constitute a significant segment of the local community, totaling approximately 252,000 individuals, and Retiree Appreciation Days offers an opportunity to specifically cater to this population, removing many barriers that Retirees may face when trying to contact the Office. Over the 12 hours allocated for this 2-day event, the Office completed a total of 214 wills, 197 medical powers of attorney, 173 advanced directives, 195 statutory durable powers of attorney, and 208 disposition of remains directives, totaling 987 legal documents drafted. This extraordinary effort yielded a conservative estimate of over $540,000 in savings for retirees and their families—savings that directly impacted the financial well-being of the community.
Mr. James Wherry, Fort Moore, GA
Jim Wherry is a stalwart in the Legal Assistance community and has been for over 11 years of service at the Fort Benning Legal Assistance Office. A member of the civilian cadre of longtime legal assistance attorneys who make up the institutional knowledge and backbone of the legal assistance community, Mr. Wherry has long focused on immigration matters and has always generously shared his expertise across the force. In 2024, Mr. Wherry offered to formalize this outreach as he recognized the value he could add in this important area of the law. With his leadership's blessing, he agreed to act as a headquarters-level subject matter expert, ready to provide on-demand immigration training to field offices across the world, and to consult on some of the most complex immigration cases that arise in the Army. Mr. Wherry is available to partner with junior judge advocates as they handle their first immigration cases or personally take on the most difficult immigration cases faced in the field. Mr. Wherry's selfless dedication to lifting up the entire practice of legal assistance by offering his service to everyone is truly above and beyond the call.
Navy
Region Legal Service Office Southeast
In 2024, the RLSO SE Legal Assistance Department team supported naval operations across 12 states and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Clients include active-duty and reserve Sailors and their families in naval aviation, surface warships, ballistic missile submarines, construction battalions, naval special operations, ship-building, NASA, and the host of personnel required to support such operations. The Department achieved major legal assistance innovations by partnering with the Department of Justice to launch the Servicemembers and Veterans Manual which addresses legal needs in Housing, Consumer Protection, Employment, Disability Rights, Financial Assistance, and Mental Health. The Department also built upon its Domestic Violence attorney program, offering direct representation for 108 new domestic violence clients in protection orders across 6 counties. It also continued innovating with the establishment of new services for Exceptional Family Member Program members, providing counseling to parents of 28 children with special needs on their rights and due process within local school districts. The Department excelled in an atmosphere of increased competition for talent, providing hybrid in-person intake support with remote attorney services at understaffed locations, shared subject matter resources, and enhanced referral protocols, ensuring continuity of services and reduced client stressors despite geographic and staffing challenges.
Ms. Rebecca Dunn, Detachment Groton, CT
In 2024, Ms. Dunn performed exceptional work leading a legal assistance program comprised of three remote offices spanning three different states all supporting the Navy’s legal assistance mission. Through her exceptional leadership, all eligible clients throughout a nine-state area of responsibility received timely legal assistance by leveraging new technology and implementing innovative processes. In 2024, her department provided 1,940 client services, an 18% increase from 2023 without an additional billeted attorney. Ms. Dunn’s efforts in improving community outreach and devising creative solutions – such as increased remote appointments, utilization of local Reserve JAGs, professional development of her team, and a streamlined office intake structure – are just a few of the ways Ms. Dunn drove this increase in services, without an increase in wait times for services.
Air Force
Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, MacDill AFB
The MacDill AFB Office of the Staff Judge Advocate serves two wings and 34 joint mission partners including the Headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command supporting 16,900 joint warfighters at MacDill AFB for the Wing’s worldwide combat air refueling mission. The mission of the Office is to provide professional legal services to the Wing and Mission Partners by empowering Airmen with competent advice and meaningful support. In 2024, the team saved active duty, retirees & dependents $1,065,917 in legal fees and played a key role in securing a total judgment of $130,000 for an SCRA violation claim against a local storage unit for illegally auctioning off personal belongings of deployed service members. The legal office also navigated 6 ARW through evacuating the Wing, two Combatant Commands, and 32 mission partners due to two catastrophic major hurricanes that struck within a two-week period. During hurricane recovery,the office filmed public service videos on the Air Force claims process and published three separate articles related to post-hurricane claims, tenant rights, and predatory business practices. In addition to its four quarterly Retiree Appreciation Days, where it provided estate planning services to more than 200 clients, the office broadened its support to disabled and dying veterans through our Mobile Assistance Support Team (MAST) providing end-of-life care, giving them peace of mind that they had taken care of their families.
Captain Sarah Lowe, Eielson AFB
Captain Lowe is a fervent leader, advocate, counselor, and servant who brings with her years of private practice experience. She applies that experience to push her colleagues and produce astonishing results for legal assistance clients. In 2024, Sarah saw 158 clients, produced 153 wills, powers of attorney, and documents, plus 11 demand letters to get quick resolutions for her clients, ultimately putting $519,000 back into the pockets of military families. Although not within her portfolio of responsibilities at the time, she revamped how the office scheduled legal assistance, reducing wait times 75%, from four weeks to just days. She inspired her team to establish legal outreach days, preemptively improving legal readiness for our most likely deployers ahead of the deployment bottlenecks. In providing legal assistance, she made eight house calls for wills, replaced five lemon vehicles, located and ensured survivor benefits to two estranged children of deceased Airmen, prevented probate issues for three estates, obtained a $50,000 home insurance claim, reversed a $24,000 predatory truck financing, defeated a $44,000 landlord lawsuit on a fraudulent lease, established paternity and childcare for clients, and guided five families through the Early Return of Dependents program to avoid $57,000 in moving costs. Her leadership and mentorship drove her team to earn thirteen different awards and recognitions from various headquarters levels throughout the year.
Marine Corps
1st Lt Rebeka Parent, Camp Pendleton, CA
In 2024, 1st Lt Rebeka Parent served as LA Attorney, Base Magistrate Hearing Officer, and at majority of times, the active-duty Office-In-Charge (OIC), an O-4 Billet, of the Regional LA Office, as that billet was gapped. Her significant accomplishments during this period included, but were not limited to, maintaining LA office operations and individual LA case load while also volunteering as magistrate hearing officer, on administrative separations boards, and as investigating officer for JAGMAN investigations, and briefing individual clients and units on consumer & preventative law, estate planning, citizenship & immigration, and divorce mediation programs. Individually, and in a short period of time, she provided LA to over 180 clients, conducting over 190 client meetings, on 261 various legal issues, and drafted 19 demand letters in support of their matters. She briefed hundreds of Marines and Sailors to support deployment workups and pre-deployment estate planning. She deducted close to 50 federal notaries pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 1044a, coordinate case referrals to the ABA Military Pro Bono Project, and adjudicated over 100 traffic citations in support of Base Magistrate operations. She advised clients on the recovery of disputed security deposits from landlords, protections under the SCRA, and eligibility for government programs resulting in the recovery of nearly $50,000 for her clients. 1stLt Parent has had a tremendously positive impact and was a true force multiplier, providing invaluable assistance in a high op-tempo environment.
Coast Guard
Seventeenth Coast Guard District Legal Assistance Team (LAT)
The Seventeenth Coast Guard District legal assistance team, led by Mr. Richard Harris, is comprised of Ms. Leah Haskell-Cummins, YN1 Todd Nara, and YN3 Journie Guyton. The team provided truly exceptional service to Coast Guard members, dependents, and retirees throughout Alaska, executing a program to the highest standards despite limited resources and the tyranny of distance. Expertly leveraging technology, training, and personal dedication, the legal assistance team substantially expanded legal assistance interactions and client services throughout District Seventeen, resolving 197 individual client matters covering everything from Power of Attorney and Wills to Landlord-Tenant issues and more. Furthermore, the team implemented a commendable virtual training program, facilitating the education and knowledge of even the most remote service members and their dependents.