On September 15th, lawyers came from all corners of Virginia (and some from Washington, D.C.) to support a free legal clinic for veterans in Virginia Beach. By the end of the day, approximately fifty veterans learned about navigating the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation claims process; the basics of wills, trusts, and estate planning; and the legal and practical considerations involved in starting a small business.
This clinic followed one I spearheaded last April. The first clinic was such a success that a repeat performance was the logical choice. We already had all of the groundwork, materials, and connections – for a fraction of the work required the first time around, we could again positively impact our area veterans.
Only this time, I wanted to expand. While the first clinic addressed only VA disability compensation claims, I believed that we could easily cover other areas of law as well. After discussing the matter with John Kidwell of Kidwell, Kent and Curran, we decided to conduct two additional presentations. Mr. Kidwell was handed the reins for a wills, trusts and estate presentation; and I was charged with a small business presentation.
Like the first clinic, the second clinic was held at the Old Dominion University Higher Education Center. We received sponsorship from Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, and we ran the clinic on tracks: two that focused on VA disability compensation claims (“Navigating the VA Disability Compensation Claim Process”), one that focused on wills, trusts and estate planning, and one that provided veterans the essentials with starting and running a small business. Each track was an hour and a half long, and helpful materials were distributed to all attendees.
The purpose of the clinic was simple: to provide veterans with practical advice they could use, as it related to legal issues. From my experience, the main gripe with lawyers is their inability to speak anything other than “legalese” – the special language used by lawyers fused with words like “adjudicate” instead of “decide,” “mandamus” instead of “mandate,” and Latin words and phrases that are dead in any context other than law. Since I knew that speaking over someone’s head doesn’t help or educate them, my goal was to make the materials and the presentations as user-friendly as possible.
I truly feel that we achieved this end, and that every single veteran who attended the clinic received value from it. As a veterans advocate, I found this incredibly rewarding. Those who served our country deserve to have their rights and interests protected, and I was honored to use my law license to further that goal.
As a note, the Virginia bar does not mandate pro bono work. Events such as this one show that some attorneys don’t need a rule in place in order to make such an effort. These attorneys, those who forfeited a beautiful Saturday to provide their support, are as follows: Jeany Mark and Kathy Lieberman of Lieberman and Mark; Daniel Krasnegor and Nancy Foti of Goodman, Allen & Filetti; Major Tracey Holtshirley of the U.S. Marine Corps; solo practitioner Jasmin Nunez; and John Kidwell of Kidwell, Kent & Curran.
If you did not attend our clinic and are interested in receiving the materials associated with any of the topics, please reach out to me at [email protected]. I am more than happy to provide electronic copies.
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Attorneys Sarah Schauerte and Jeany Mark
Attorney John Kidwell conducts presentation on wills, trusts and estate planning
