Veterans Law Pro Bono Project

The Mason Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS) has partnered with Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV) to assist in their Veterans Law Pro Bono Project.  This partnership provides direct access to legal resources to the large veteran population in our geographic area.  LSNV and M-VETS will continue as partners in providing access to justice for veterans in Virginia. The Project has been broken into two stages.

The first stage involves the initial screening of veteran’s legal issues using LSNV staff and M-VETS Student Advisors (SAs).  Under the supervision of LSNV’s Veterans Law Attorney, SAs are conducting legal check-ups assessing the veteran’s potential legal issues.  These legal check-ups are conducted in person at the Alexandria Vet Center.  Eligible Northern Virginia civil litigation matters are referred to LSNV’s Veterans Law Project for further intake assessment. Alternately, M-VETS SAs make a preliminary determination of whether the veteran has an outstanding claim for a discharge upgrade.  If it is decided that the veteran has a potential outstanding claim, the case is referred to the LSNV Veterans Law Pro Bono Project staff to obtain all pertinent military personnel and medical records.

The second stage of review occurs after the relevant records are obtained. The entire case is reassessed by the M-VETS SAs under the direction of the LSNV’s Veterans Law Attorney to make a final determination as to whether the veteran has a viable claim for a discharge upgrade. The SAs will make their recommendation to the LSNV Veterans Law Attorney in writing via an assessment memo.  If it is determined by LSNV’s Veterans Law Attorney that the case should proceed, a LSNV Veterans Law Pro Bono Project volunteer attorney from one of the various partner law offices will be assigned to the veteran’s case.

The following application should only be used by Staff Members of LSNV in furtherance of the Veterans Law Pro Bono Project.