(PRWEB) May 16, 2014
A prestigious group of trial attorneys has awarded the veterans clinic at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago $25,000 to host a national conference on replicating its model across the United States. The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) has awarded the Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic the grant as part of its mission to support programs whose goal is maintaining and improving the administration of justice.
“There is a distinct need for more veteran-related legal clinics throughout the country,” said Brian Clauss, executive director of the VLSC. “This award allows us to continue our leadership role by assisting those other beginning and existing veterans clinics.”
John Marshall students at the VLSC work under the supervision of practicing attorneys and professors assisting veterans in resolving benefits claims and other legal problems. The clinic first opened in 2007 and was among the first in the United States aimed at assisting veterans.
The funding – which may be renewable in 2015 – will allow VSLC staff and students to host a conference for other law schools from across the country, and train personnel from those schools on how to conduct the kind of benefits work the VLSC performs.
“We look forward to hearing about your continued success, and we hope that you will make an effort to see to it that your program inspires similar projects in other states,” ACTL President David Beck said.
“This award will help empower veterans clinicians from across the country to collaborate on establishing these valuable, needed programs,” Clauss said. “These clinicians are all working towards the same goal of providing access to justice for our nation’s veterans.”
John Marshall Dean John E. Corkery added: “We are grateful to be honored by such a distinguished group as the American College of Trial Lawyers. This award shows that not only are our clinic and students doing great work, but also we are the leader in this very important field.”
Since its inception, VLSC law students have fielded on average more than 1,000 calls for assistance a year. From the color of paint on its walls to the open feel of its work areas, the 5,300-square-foot space was designed to focus on the needs of veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.
For more information about John Marshall’s Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic, visit http://www.jmls.edu/veterans