(Pictured L-R: M-VETS Director Timothy MacArthur, Student Advisors Jacoby Warner, Sarah Khalife, Dan Krupa)
A Student Advisor (SA) in the Mason Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS) kicked off the fall semester by representing the daughter of a Servicemember during a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) hearing on September 22, 2025.
The hearing involved an appeal of an incorrect award of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for the Servicemember’s daughter while she was pursuing a higher-level college degree. M-VETS initially took on this case in 2020, and after attempting to resolve the issue by filing a supplemental claim with the DVA, the case was finally placed on the docket for a BVA hearing in 2023, with the hearing being held this fall.
Many Student Advisors in M-VETS worked on this case from 2020 to 2025. However, when a hearing date was finally set, current M-VETS SA Ms. Sarah Khalife took over the case in the summer of 2025, as the hearing approached, and spent months thoroughly preparing for it. Ms. Khalife represented the M-VETS client during the BVA hearing under the supervision of M-VETS Director Timothy MacArthur.
“I am very grateful to the M-VETS clinic and Mr. MacArthur’s guidance that allowed me to represent our client before the BVA,” Ms. Khalife said. “As a second-year law student, this was my first opportunity to work hands-on with the law. This opportunity allowed me to apply my classroom knowledge and work skills from my previous career, and to humanize how the law affects real people in practice. It was an honor to help give a voice to the family of a Servicemember who has served our country for so long.”
“Sarah did a great job advocating for our client during the hearing,” MacArthur stated. “She conducted a pre-hearing informal conference with the Judge, presented an opening statement, performed a direct examination with our client, and delivered a closing argument before the BVA judge,” MacArthur stated. “I want to thank all of the SAs who worked on this matter while they were in the clinic. I would also like to thank our client for allowing Sarah to represent her during the hearing. Additionally, our client and the BVA judge permitted our other M-VETS SAs to observe the hearing, providing a valuable learning opportunity for the clinic as a whole. At an informal post-hearing conference, the Judge provided positive feedback to Sarah regarding her performance and preparation for the hearing. The Judge also provided an opportunity for a question-and-answer period for the SAs after the hearing, which was a great opportunity to speak to a member of the bench and further the learning process.”
M-VETS enables students to assist active-duty members of the armed forces, their families, and veterans in a wide variety of administrative, litigation, and non-litigation matters, including medical and physical evaluation boards, appeals of denials of Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and educational claims, representation before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, applications for discharge upgrades or military records correction before the Boards for Correction of Military Records and Discharge Review Boards.