Volume 159, No. 190
A new place tohelp veterans
BY JAMIE LOOLaw Bulletin staff writer
It all started with a push cartthat Michael E. Barnicle,Nicholas Henry and RyanCoward would wheel around thelaw school to empty classroomsto provide training on advocacyfor veterans.Seven years later, that humble
piece of equipment has evolvedinto a 5,300-square-foot spacedevoted to pro bono services forveterans. It is among the firstpro bono veterans legal clinicsand the largest facility of its kindin the U.S.The John Marshall Law
School Veterans Legal SupportCenter & Clinic celebrated theopening of its newly renovatedfacility at the corner of JacksonBoulevard and Plymouth Courton Thursday.“It represents the commit-
ment of John Marshall to theveterans community,” said BrianE. Clauss, the clinic’s executivedirector. “This is the first privatespace in the Midwest designedfor people with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).”With its muted colors, large
windows that look out onto thestreet and a wide-open officearea, the design by architecturalfirm Griskelis Young Harrell tookinto mind the needs of veteransliving with PTSD.The intake area of the clinic,
for example, has one interviewroom with windows that face thestreet and one without,depending on the comfort level ofthe veteran. It also featuresstate-of-the-art classroom spacefor the veterans legal advocacy
class component of the clinic.The VLSC started in 2006 and
began taking clients in 2007.More than 100 law schoolstudents have been trained bythe clinic and students nowassist with more than 1,000 callsa year from veterans.Law school students involved
in the clinic provide researchand support to help veteranswith their legal issues and buildcases. The majority of cases thatthey handle are VeteransBenefits Administration claims.“Most veterans have a viable
claim, they just don’t have theevidence as of yet, so we’rehelping them collect thatevidence,” said Yelena Duterte, aVLSC staff attorney.Duterte said the veterans
come from all generations, butcurrently most are from theVietnam War era and areencountering more healthproblems as they age. The clinichas also handled cases for WorldWar II veterans and has seen anincreasing number of individualswho served in the Gulf War, shesaid.Ashley Sloan, a recent
graduate who worked at theclinic while she was a studentand is now a staff member, saidthat the clinic also helps veteranswith issues such as educationalbenefits, nonservice relatedpension, housing and family lawissues.Veterans with legal issues
beyond the scope of the clinic,including criminal matters, arereferred to a trained network ofmore than 350 volunteerattorneys who can representveterans in their cases.
Sloan, who is a Marine Corpssecond lieutenant, said she knewshe wanted to work withveterans and that it became herpassion in law school.“It’s very humbling. I’m
honored to be able to connectwith some of these veterans whohave served our country,” shesaid. “It gives me a lot ofmeaning behind what I feel likemy career could possibly be.”Along with serving the
veterans community, Clauss said,the clinic is also part of the lawschool’s mission to provide a
real-world experience forstudents and create practice-ready attorneys. The pro bonoveterans legal clinic was amongthe first of its kind in a lawschool and has become a nationalmodel for other schools.Joseph Butler, a former John
Marshall professor and theclinic’s faculty sponsor at itsfounding, said the clinic’s modelof mixing students and pro bonoattorneys allows it to handlemore cases than if it tried to doeverything in-house.There’s no better feeling, he
Copyright © 2013 Law Bulletin Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Publishing Company.
John Marshall legal aid effort began 7 years agoon a push cart, now has state-of-the-art facility
CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
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The John Marshall Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center& Clinic has a new home — 5,300 square feet of space at thecorner of Jackson Boulevard and Plymouth Court. Chandler West
Joseph Butler (right), a former John Marshall Law Schoolprofessor who was the first faculty sponsor of the Veterans LegalSupport Center & Clinic, attended the grand opening event forthe center’s new facility Thursday. Chandler West
said, than watching a lawstudent help a veteran and tohave it be his or her first experi-ence with a case.“That you can teach the young
attorneys that they can make ahuge difference in people’s liveswith the skills they learned inlaw school is the best lesson theycan learn,” he said.Barnicle, Henry and Coward
were all law students at JohnMarshall in 2006 when theycame up with idea for the probono legal services clinic forveterans. There was no space forthe clinic, so they used a pushcart and set up the clinicwherever there was space in thelaw school.Butler said the cart was
loaded up with books, computersand other materials. Other lawstudents who were veteransaffectionately referred to thecart as the “TOC” — militaryslang for Tactical OperationsCenter.While he was conducting
research to develop curriculum onlegal advocacy for veterans,
Barnicle said he had a hard timefinding any treatises or hornbookson the topic. That was bother-some, he said — it was a seriouslegal topic, yet it wasn’t even beingaddressed academically.In 2010, the clinic received a
$350,000 grant from the U.S.Department of Justice to workwith local, state and federalcourts on a variety of veteranslegal issues and programs suchas the Veterans TreatmentCourt.VLSC eventually received a
closet space at the law schooland continued to evolve intowhat it is today.Barnicle, who graduated in
2008 and is now in the ArmyJudge Advocate General’s Corpsbased in Washington, D.C., saidas an alumnus and active dutyservice member he is proud thatstudents have continued themission of helping veterans inthe Chicago area.He said the new facility is
“absolutely amazing.”“In the military when you’re
promoted you get a rank and
everyone always says your newrank doesn’t symbolize whatyou’ve done, it symbolizes whatwe expect you to do,” Barniclesaid.
“So to see this … I look at thisand I expect great things. Iexpect this clinic to really be thenation’s leading clinic on thisissue.”
Copyright © 2013 Law Bulletin Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Publishing Company.
Charlene Foss-Eggemann, corporate counsel consultant atLexisNexis, chats with Michael V. Favia, owner of Michael V.Favia & Associates, at the grand opening Thursday of The JohnMarshall Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic.Chandler West
