October 2020 Hello! In This Issue: Executive Director's Corner Veterans Day Training Hosted by Quarles & Brady LLP Pro Bono Week 2020 Celebrating 20 Years At TVC: Cathy Klingler Monument Honoring All Military Women Unveiled Welcome Equal Justice Works Fellow, Nicqelle Godfrey Legacy of the Fighting Filipinos 2020 TVC Pro Bono Mission Partner Awards Sponsors Notable News
Executive Director's Corner We’re looking forward to your attendance next Thursday, October 29, at our annual TVC Pro Bono Mission Partner Awards as we celebrate exceptional Pro Bono advocacy for our nation's defenders. The event will go live at 6:00 PM ET. This virtual event can be accessed via the button below, as well as on the front page of our website. We are excited to share the stories of our successes and spotlight deserving organizations and individuals that have given their time and talent in support of our veterans. We hope that you’ll enjoy the program.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE EVENT PAGE I would especially like to recognize our Champion Sponsor, Baker Botts L.L.P. , for their generosity and unwavering loyalty to our program. Baker Botts attorneys have been taking TVC cases since 1998 and have a nearly 100% success rate. Absolutely remarkable! I’d also like to spotlight our Freedom sponsors, ExxonMobil Corp. and Squire Patton Boggs, as well as our Patriot Sponsors, Cameron Firm, PC, McCarter & English, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and Paul Weiss, for their fantastic support.
Your support allows us to continue our mission, as well as find new and innovative ways of providing the best legal services, free of charge, to veterans and their loved ones in need. There’s still time to sponsor this year’s event. If you have any questions, please contact our Director of Communications and Development, Claudia Daley at claudia.daley@vetsprobono.org. I’d like to recognize one of our most stalwart team members, Cathy Klingler, who celebrated 20 years of service with TVC this month. Cathy’s ever-present positive energy for the past 20 years has been a critical part of the heartbeat of our organization. Bravo Zulu, Cathy! Next week, on October 30, in partnership with the DC Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs, we will also celebrate DC Pro Bono Week with three simultaneous virtual Pro Bono legal clinics for DC, VA and MD veterans. One of the clinics, the Discharge Upgrade clinic, will be open to veterans nationwide. This is an annual event for TVC and a great opportunity to highlight the critical need for these clinics in our communities for veterans in need. I’d like to thank the following mission partners and volunteers who will be supporting the clinics. Blank Rome LLP, Duane Morris LLP, Falen LaPonzina, Esq., and PNC Bank. I’m also proud of the TVC team who make this event a priority each year. We’ve had a lot of interest from the community and we look forward to an impactful day. If you would like to learn more about our clinics and how you can volunteer, please contact Caitlin Ens at Caitlin.Ens@vetsprobono.org. On Veterans Day, November 11, our Mission Partners at Quarles & Brady LLP will host our team for a two-hour virtual training to represent veterans at U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Please consider spending your Veteran’s Day learning how to represent our nation’s defenders. To register, please click on “Register Here” below. If you are already a volunteer, please spread the word at your firm and within your network. There is a significant need for more volunteers and with the impact of COVID-19, we know the need will only grow. To learn more about this opportunity, please contact Outreach & Education Director, Courtney Smith, at Courtney.Smith@vetsprobono.org. Steve Jordon Executive Director
Veterans Day Training Hosted by ​Quarles & Brady LLP
PRO BONO Week 2020
In honor of Pro Bono Week, TVC will be coordinating our annual pop up clinics. The three clinics will be held on 30 October 2020 virtually. During the legal clinics, volunteer attorneys will meet with veterans, conduct triage of their stated needs, offer limited legal information, and provide referral resources. We want to thank the members of our TVC National Volunteer Corps who are participating in this annual initiative: Blank Rome LLC Duane Morris LLP Falen LaPonzina, Esq. PNC Bank
Celebrating 20 Years at TVC Cathy Klingler
This month marks 20 years of dedicated service to The Veterans Consortium for our friend and colleague, Cathy Klingler. Cathy has been with TVC longer than anyone currently on staff in DC and brings a passion and invaluable institutional knowledge to our organization. Cathy, who is referred to by staff as “TVC’s biggest cheerleader ”, has witnessed many changes in her time at TVC. She has seen the staff triple in size, worked with four Executive Directors and supported the migration of data to four databases. Cathy served her country as a U.S. Coast Guard spouse for 22 years, raising three children while managing six moves (two of them to Alaska). This experience is evident in her empathy and understanding of the many challenges that family members, caregivers and survivors face. She and her husband, Chuck, have been married for 46 years and both serve as community leaders in their parish, where they mentor engaged couples in marriage preparation. Cathy also leads a program which provides shelter and food for the homeless in her community. Cathy serves as the Docket Administrator at TVC. She supports our mission by tracking client due dates and docket activity at the U. S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. We can always count on Cathy to keep the trains on track and to let us know when they aren’t. She is a true team player and is always ready to help and support her colleagues with a warm smile and a great sense of humor!
Cathy, we are indebted to you for your service and privileged to work with you!
A New Monument for Women Servicemembers Unveiled at Arlington National Cemetery
The new Women's Memorial is the only major national memorial honoring all women who have served their country throughout its history.
The Pledge (inscribed on the monument) “Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom. That our resolve was just as great as the brave men who stand among us. And with victory, our hearts were just as full and beat just as fast — that the tears fell just as hard for those we left behind." Anne Sosh Brehm, a first lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II
TVC honors and recognizes all women who have served our country, regardless of era. We thank you for your commitment to your country and we respect and recognize your unique service experiences. #shefoughtforustoo CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Welcome 2020 Equal Justice Works Fellow, Nicqelle Godfrey On October 12, TVC welcomed Nicqelle Godfrey, our newest Equal Justice Works Fellow. Nicqelle’s two-year fellowship is sponsored by Covington & Burling LLP and Northrup Grumman. Her two-year project will focus on the development of a program to provide education, support, and free legal services to immigrants seeking naturalization through military service. According
to
the Immigrations
and
Nationalities Act, those who serve honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for expedited naturalization. However, in recent years, there has been a decline in the number of naturalization applications, an increase in the obstacles to application, and an increase in the denials of such applications. The rate of denials among non-citizen military personnel is now higher than their civilian counterparts. To succeed in serving this community, Nicqelle will create and distribute resources to veterans that outline the process of naturalization through free legal clinics and immigration assistance projects nationwide. She will develop a referral program that can be delivered to veterans organizations to expand the reach of this program. She will conduct outreach to create a new Volunteer Corps to identify and train new attorneys who are interested in assisting immigrants with military naturalization. Finally, she will provide free legal assistance to veterans who are applying for military naturalization and appealing naturalization denials. We are grateful to Covington & Burling LLP and Northrup Grumman for sponsoring this critical project and look forward to working with them to continue to find areas where we can positively impact the care and legal services our nation's veterans have earned. Welcome to the team, Nicqelle!
Filipino American History Month and The Legacy of the Fighting Filipinos October is Filipino American History month – a time to reflect on the many contributions of Filipino Americans to our nation. Filipinos are one of the largest immigrant populations serving in the U.S. Military.
TVC is currently consulting on a project to spotlight the history of Filipino veterans who were drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces in the early 1940s. Guerrillas under General MacArthur ’s command were officially included in the war effort by executive order. Advocacy for full rights and recognition for our Filipino veterans continues to this day. “Legacy of the Fighting Filipinos” is a feature social justice documentar y, currently in production, which focuses on the US’ treatment of Filipino WWII vets after the war.
In 1941, Filipino forces were conscripted into the U.S. Army. In 1944, guerrilla troops were inducted too. After their service, Congress declared most of these forces to be “not on active duty”, thereby denying them backpay, benefits, and promised citizenship. From 1946-1948, the U.S. Army further disenfranchised our Filipino veterans through reconstructed rosters which arbitrarily denied about 1,000,000 guerrilla claims and explicitly refused to recognize the service of women. Today, tens of thousands of veterans remain unacknowledged despite their evidence of service. In the feature documentary, “Legacy of the Fighting Filipinos”, their stories are rediscovered through interviews with the veterans, their families, legal, legislative, and military advocates, archival footage, and 3D animation of the newly resurfaced WWII art. For more information about “Legacy of the Fighting Filipinos”, please visit their website and social media channels below. Tax-deductible donations are accepted via the website’s “donate now” button, which links to a PayPal for the film's fiscal sponsor, New Mexico Film Foundation.
WEBSITE
White & Case Volunteer Attorneys Champion Disabled Veterans to Secure Vital VA Benefits On October 9, Mission Partner White & Case LLC published an article on their website highlighting their partnership with The Veterans Consortium. "The White & Case Veterans' Initiative "serves those who served" by helping veterans pursue military service-related disability benefits from the VA. Working in partnership with leading national organizations, including the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) and The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program (TVC), our lawyers advise veterans at all levels of the VA claims process."
TVC would like to thank White & Case volunteer attorneys for their commitment and loyalty to our program. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
TVC Attorney Featured in Stars & Stripes Magazine
TVC Discharge Upgrade Program Director, Danica Gonzalves, was recently featured in a Stars and Stripes online article. Stars and Stripes serves the active-duty and veteran U.S. military community, as well as DoD civilians, contractors and more, by providing independent military related news and information. Published on October 7, 2020, the article noted that thousands of veterans did not know about the option to upgrade their bad paper discharges. Gonzalves said review panels are supposed to have a medical expert, but sometimes that person doesn’t have a mental-health background. “It should be a psychologist or a psychiatrist,” Gonzalves said. “It just has to be a physician. There are times when that physician doesn’t have adequate mental health training. To read the entire article, click below.
CLICK HERE
DLA Piper Hosts Nationwide Virtual TVC Training On October 21, multinational law firm mission partner DLA Piper hosted a virtual training for their attorneys. This training was led by TVC’s Director of Volunteer Outreach & Education, Courtney Smith. Our team collaborated with DLA Piper’s Richard Gruenberger to organize a two hour training for attorneys across the country. TVC is proud to establish another new, long-lasting relationship with DLA Piper. Thank you to DLA Piper for hosting this training. Welcome to our TVC National Volunteer Corps!
2020 PRO BONO MISSION PARTNER AWARDS SPONSORS
CHAMPION
FREEDOM PATRIOT
GUARDIAN
HONOR GUARD
VETERAN'S DEFENDER
Click Here To Become a 2020 Sponsor
TVC Quote of the Month “I have been very depressed about this appeal case for years. I’m so thankful for my attorney, Ms. Valerie Daye. I feel she has been the first person that has ever fought for me and won...I thank God every day for her and this program.” United States Army Veteran
NOTABLE NEWS TVC Volunteer Attorney Gustavo Mayen Featured in Military Families Magazine On October 16, TVC National Volunteer Corps Member and Marine combat veteran, Gustavo Mayen, had a feature article written about him in Military Families Magazine.
Upcoming Training Information
Appellate Advocacy before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims SPONSORED BY Quarles & Brady LLP
“The biggest draw for that is it is their last resort … At this stage, the veteran gets his day in court and I'm there with them," Mayen explained.
Bravo Zulu, Gustavo! Click to Read More
Court's Oral Argument Schedule Click Here to View* *Please note that all oral arguments are now being done virtually.
Wednesday November 11, 2020 11:00 AM-1:15 PM
REGISTER HERE
Do you know a Veteran in crisis?
You Can Support The Veterans Consortium on Amazon PASS IT ON During this challenging time, many of us are shopping on Amazon for homeschooling supplies, disinfecting products, DIY projects and more. Consider using Amazon Smile, which will automatically donate a portion of your purchase price to The Veterans Consortium.
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Available Pro Bono CAVC Cases ​ for our current ​TVC National Volunteer Corps Click below to view our list of Available Pro Bono Cases in need of representation by a volunteer attorney. *Note: you must be a current volunteer who has taken our training and has been approved as a member on our website in order to log in and view the available cases.
The impact of your pro bono service is real and tangible for our veterans. Please share this video with those you think may be interested in volunteering.
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CLICK HERE For assistance, email volunteer@vetsprobono.org Your gift will help to ensure that our veterans & their loved ones can receive the care, the benefits and the compensation they earned by serving our country.
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