Veterans Task Force
Veterans Task Force Overview
Military service members dedicate their lives to defending America’s people, freedoms, and way of life. Even today, they fight for peace and justice on the battlefield. Once they return home and leave active duty, they often face legal issues that create barriers to a successful transition to civilian life. Civil legal problems — from threatened evictions to other-than-honorable discharges from the military — are often the greatest obstacles to a veteran’s health, housing, stability, and productivity. In 2017, 71% of households with veterans or other military personnel reported experiencing a civil legal problem in the past year. Twenty-one percent of those households reported experiencing 6 or more legal problems in the preceding year. Yet while civil legal needs among veterans are prevalent, low-income veterans and other military personnel received inadequate or no professional legal help for 88% of their civil legal problems in 2017.
Veterans should not have to fight for access to the justice system when they return home. They should get the help they need to obtain the benefits and legal assistance they are entitled to and so richly deserve. For more than 45 years, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and its grantees, along with other legal aid programs, have been providing this help. It is the mission of LSC’s Veterans Task Force to further access to justice for veterans by:
- Raising awareness of the legal issues faced by veterans;
- Identifying ways to strengthen the relationships between legal aid providers and other veteran-serving organizations, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, treatment courts, and veterans advocacy organizations;
- Highlighting model programs that provide effective, integrated services to veterans and making recommendations for replicating or expanding those programs; and
- Recommending strategies for engaging attorneys to provide legal assistance on a pro bono basis, including for complex legal issues.
LSC is honored to have the law firm of DLA Piper provide financial and logistical support to the Veterans Task Force. Helping veterans receive the help they need and the access to justice they deserve has been a signature project of DLA Piper's pro bono program for many years, and DLA Piper looks forward to continuing work in this area. The DLA Piper Foundation has awarded a significant grant to LSC to support the work of the Veterans Task Force.
Richard Gruenberger and Lisa Dewey are DLA Piper's lead contacts for the task force. Both have extensive pro bono experience.
Three DLA Piper partners, all of whom served in the armed services, will co-chair the Task Force’s three working groups. Isabelle Ord will co-chair the Legal Issues working group with Task Force member Nicole Perez, Jim Brogan will co-chair the Collaboration working group with Task Force member Lara Eilhardt and Rich Hans will co-chair the Transition to Civilian Life working group with Task Force member Jim McDonough.
Here is a video from our most recent virtual task force field hearing:
To see more videos from our November 10th hearing, click here.
To hear LSC Board Chair John G. Levi announce the creation of the task force during his 2019 Veteran's Day Forum remarks, click here or view the video below.
To hear LSC Board Member Matt Keenan discuss the task force at LSC's 2019 Veteran's Day Forum, click here or the video below.
Veterans Task Force Co-Chairs
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David D. Halverson | ||
Lieutenant General, US Army (Ret) |
Veterans Task Force Members
John Adams*
Stakeholder,
EimerStahl LLP
Peter Beshar
Executive Vice President and General Counsel,
Marsh & McLennan Companies
Linda Blauhut
Deputy General Counsel
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Sean Clark
National Director
Veterans Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Bishop Joseph Coffey
Auxiliary Bishop
Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
Hagar Dickman
Senior Staff Attorney
Bay Area Legal Aid
Lara Eilhardt
Senior Attorney
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Antonia Fasanelli
Executive Director
Homeless Persons Representation Project
Dr. Andrea Finlay
Research Health Scientist
Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
Nick Hasenfus*
Attorney
Holland & Knight
Nan Heald
Executive Director
Pine Tree Legal Assistance
Sam Holmes*
Senior Program Officer
Bob Woodruff Foundation
Hon. Sven Erik Holmes
Former Vice Chairman, Legal, Risk, and Regulatory and Former Chief Legal Officer
KPMG LLP
Abdiel Joseph*
Board Member
Legal Services NYC
Dr. David Joseph
Medical Director
Oakland Vet Center
Matt Keenan
Partner
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Jon Killoran
Supervising Attorney
Inner City Law Center
Samantha Kubek
Coordinating Attorney of the Veterans Initiative
LegalHealth Division
John Kuhn
National Director
Supportive Services for Veteran Families, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Margaret Kuzma
Director of Veterans Inclusion Project
Connecticut Veterans Legal Center
James McDonough*
Executive Director
Headstrong
Harriet Miers
Partner and Member
Locke Lord LLP
Stephen Moss*
Partner
Holland & Knight LLP
Patrick Murphy*
Chairman,
WorkMerk
Dan Nagin
Clinical Professor of Law, Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education and Faculty Director
Wilmer Hale Legal Services Center and Harvard Law Veterans Law Clinic
Martin Parsons*
Clinical Assistant Professor
Southern Illinois University School of Law
Nicole Perez
Managing Attorney
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Benjamin Pomerance
Deputy Director for Program Development
New York State Division of Veterans’ Services
Ellen Rheaume
Supervisory Attorney
Legal Aid Chicago
Jack Rives*
Executive Director
American Bar Association
Judge Robert Russell
Presiding Judge
Buffalo Veterans Treatment Court
Maureen Siedor
Legal Director
Swords to Plowshares
Sara Sommarstrom
Vetlaw Director
Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
Bart Stichman
Executive Director
National Veterans Legal Services Program
Major Stephen A. Stokes
Judge Advocate
Idaho Army National Guard
Jennifer Trott
Researcher
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
Dr. Jack Tsai
Research Director
National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Yale University
Jill Williams
Board Member
Homeless Persons Representation Project
Michael J. Wishnie
William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law
Yale Law School
*Veteran