Connecticut Veterans Legal Center
Lawyers across the country have heard the call to help veterans obtain a discharge upgrade, a highly specialized area of veterans’ law. Our organization, the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC), knew that if we could provide free, expert level, easily accessible training and support on a national level, we could marshal those lawyers’ talents and goodwill. The first step was developing a comprehensive Discharge Upgrade Manual, which we completed in early 2020. But we knew the manual wasn’t enough.
ABE’s Opportunity Grant Program
In late 2019, we became aware of the American Bar Endowment’s Opportunity Grant Program. We knew that this grant could help us turn the manual into compelling training webinars to deliver to lawyers across the country. In February of 2020, we received the fantastic news that the American Bar Endowment awarded us a grant. The ABE’s funding has allowed us to develop and implement in-depth, on-demand training videos for the legal issues in each chapter of the manual, building a pro bono national network. Together with powerful veteran client testimonials, these training videos are posted on our national Veterans Inclusion Project website, so pro bono attorneys can easily access them. These pro bono attorneys now serve low-income veterans who have been unjustly denied access to healthcare, disability benefits, and supportive services due to their military discharge status.
Veteran G’s Story
One of the clients, G., a woman veteran, was denied Veterans Administration (VA) benefits for eight years due to an unjust “other than honorable” discharge. Veteran G began active duty service in the US Marine Corps. Shortly after enlisting, it was clear she was a leader; she exceeded performance expectations and graduated first in her class from the Military Occupational Specialities. During training for deployment, an 80-pound metal pole struck her jaw. After deployment to Iraq, she developed undiagnosed PTSD and used prescription painkillers to cope. She courageously asked her commander for help but was denied support. After her unjust discharge, she struggled to cope with symptoms of PTSD from combat. She turned to the VA for help but was turned away and denied care because of her discharge status. During the eight years that she was locked out of VA care, she suffered bouts of homelessness and lacked the mental health services she needed to heal from her service-connected injuries.
Veteran G. bravely connected with CVLC to challenge this injustice. CVLC worked with Veteran G. through the recharacterization process to obtain access to benefits while trained pro bono attorneys began pursuing her discharge upgrade paperwork. The VA recently reviewed Veteran G’s discharge status, determining it to be honorable for accessing full VA benefits, including healthcare. The client reported to us, “I’m really lucky I found these people, and they were willing to help me.” Today, with access to healthcare and disability benefits, she can focus on herself and her recovery. Veteran G is now pursuing her education as a veterinarian student.
Get Involved
Without help from a lawyer, fewer than 50 percent of veterans seeking discharge upgrades prevail; most claims are denied for procedural reasons. With fewer than 40 veteran legal clinics nationwide providing discharge upgrade representation, the need is significant to ensure justice for our nation’s heroes.
We learned from the ABE that the Opportunity Grants are possible because ABE insureds participate in ABE-sponsored insurance plans and donate their dividends. We are grateful to those lawyers for their support. We invite those ABE Insureds and members of the Young Lawyers Division to join our national cadre of trained lawyers who help deliver justice to veterans like G. If you are interested in being a pro bono lawyer for veterans—you can do most of the work from your desk—please consider volunteering.
