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NORTH CAROLINA VETERANS OFFERED FREE LEGAL HELP
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Former VA attorney starts the Veterans Law
Project.
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Vets offered free legal help
By Lex Alexander
Staff Writer
A legal clinic at Durham's N.C. Central University will begin offering
free help in January to military veterans having problems with their
claims for government benefits.
The Veterans Law Project will be run by Greensboro attorney Craig
Kabatchnick, who works for Durham's Everett & Everett law firm.
Kabatchnick, an attorney in the Department of Veterans Affairs in the
early 1990s, will serve as an adjunct law professor, teaching a course
and overseeing the volunteer legal work the participating law students
will perform for veterans.
Registration isn't complete, but so far at least five Central students,
plus another 25 from UNC-Chapel Hill's law school, have signed up.
"I think we're going to be at the forefront, the edge of the sword, in
protecting the veterans when they come home," Kabatchnick said this
week.
The clinic is being established as Veterans Affairs wrestles with
long-standing problems in the speed and consistency with which it
handles veterans' disability claims, according to reports by the
Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
With combat ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan, claims are expected to
increase.
The issue is particularly acute in North Carolina, where more service
people are discharged than in almost any other state in the country.
Veterans typically must file disability claims within two years of
leaving the service.
Meanwhile, although the initial preparation of a claim has a great deal
to do with how it ultimately will be decided, veterans seldom can get
legal help at that stage because a Civil War-era law caps legal fees for
such services at $10.
Participating students each will volunteer at least 45 hours during the
spring semester and receive academic credit.
"These students take a clinic because they're dedicated to the clinic
... " said Pam Glean, who supervises legal clinics for Central's law
school. "I've never had a student say, 'I've done my 45 hours and I'm
quitting.' "
The UNC-CH students' participation is consistent with that law school's
ethic, spokesman Matt Marvin said: "Over 50 percent of students
participated or provided some (free) service over the course of the last
year."
The clinic will be only the third of its type in the country,
Kabatchnick believes; the others are at Catholic University in
Washington and Widener University in Pennsylvania.
Students might even have the chance to argue a veteran's case before the
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, Glean said.
The clinic is a good fit for Central, Glean said, because it's close to
a veterans' hospital, where many clients are likely to come from. And
the work fits with Central's mission to serve "traditionally
underserved" segments of the community, such as the poor and minorities.
Central's commitment is only for the coming semester so far.
Establishing a year-round clinic, supervised by a full-time law
professor rather than an adjunct, would require at least $150,000
annually and at least a three-year commitment, Glean said.
Even a one-semester clinic could have lasting benefits, Glean said.
"Hopefully we'll be able to place some of those students in private
practice with lawyers who have the inclination but not the means to help
veterans," she said. "If we can help them help veterans, we've served a
dual purpose."
Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or
lalexander@news-record.com
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Larry Scott
