Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic at The John Marshall Law School Awarded $350K US DOJ Grant
Congrats to The John Marshall Law School’s Veteran’s Legal Support Center & Clinic (VLSC)! The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs has awarded VLSC a $350,000 to support its efforts to “work with the state court system to implement Veterans Courts; . . . develop the partnership with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to administer support for qualifying veterans appearing in Federal Misdemeanor Court; serve as the strategic depository for all scholarship addressing domestic violence issues . . . and assist other law schools across” the country to develop similar programming in their communities.
“This grant makes it possible for us to provide valuable legal support to those who have given so much to our country – the men and women who have served our nation in time of need.”
-The John Marshall Law School Foundation President John Lee.
VLSC is one of the first clinics of its kind in the country and is committed to addressing the legal needs of veterans seeking benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The program assists veterans by investigating and researching their VA benefit claims. The clinic also provides referrals to private attorneys for qualified veterans through a statewide network of pro bono attorneys.
“We ask a lot of our veterans. We put them in harm’s way. We ask that they give the last ounce of devotion that they possibly can and then sometimes when they get back state-side, we don’t always give them the support that they need. That is one of the reasons for our veterans clinic – to try and make sure that we do give the men and women who are veterans the help that they need.”
-John Marshall Dean John E. Corkery
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL) congratulated the law school during the grant announcement ceremony for both receiving the grant and the school’s “tremendous outreach into the community.”
PSLawNet is always excited to hear about law schools providing legal assistance to our country’s veterans. Check out our earlier post to learn about two programs at The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law addressing the growing legal needs of low-income veterans.
