Virginia lawyers volunteer to help military veterans

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are paying the steep price of war.

They are experiencing high levels of unemployment, huge health-care costs and the greatest rate of post-traumatic stress disorder among service members nationwide.

But they are getting help from Virginia lawyers, who have stepped up to help veterans get the benefits they have earned and with other legal issues.

"The need for these services among Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans is astonishing, and increased benefits have a significant impact on the veteran and his or her family, and enable them to live a life out of poverty," said Erin L. Barrett, a lawyer with Hunton & Williams law firm in Richmond and the director of the firm's Veterans Pro Bono Program.

Hunton & Williams recently was honored by the National Veterans Legal Services Program with its Pro Bono Partner of the Year Award for its efforts to help America's military veterans.

"Many veterans are unable to work, and if they can, it is in a reduced capacity," Barrett said. "Often, they are unable to navigate the complex system to obtain their rightful benefits."

Other law firms are pitching in as well.

"Most people who come out of … Iraq and Afghanistan have some form of PTSD," said Matthew A. Kapinos, an associate with the McGuireWoods law firm in Richmond and a West Point graduate.

"They're persons who operated at a very high level of stress, including potentially someone shooting at them," Kapinos said.

A former Army infantry officer, Kapinos' service included combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. He now is co-chair of the Virginia Bar Association's Veterans Issues Task Force, along with corporate attorney and Army veteran Bob Barrett, Erin Barrett's husband.

The bar group is working to provide free or reduced-cost legal services to assist Virginia service members and veterans of the armed forces from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We have a list of volunteer attorneys who donate their services to vets," said Bob Barrett, who focuses on domestic relations matters such as divorce and child custody, bankruptcy cases and other civil litigation.

"We've placed over 30 cases," said Barrett, who is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and served in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Virginia Bar Association also has raised funds for Helping Military Veterans through Higher Education — HMVHE, pronounced "humvee" — a group of Virginia colleges and coordinating their resources to assist Virginia veterans and military service members with their legal, medical and veteran-benefit problems.

"We've seen the (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) say 'no' for completely wrong reasons," Kapinos said. "It should have been an automatic 'yes.' That can take months to rectify.

"We can help soldiers overcome road blocks like that," Kapinos said.

Hunton & Williams has taken part in the National Veterans Legal Services Program's Lawyers Serving Warriors initiative since it was launched in 2008. The project gives free legal help to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans from all over the nation.

The Virginia Bar Association's efforts are aimed at Virginia veterans who have problems concerning discharges, disabilities and benefits. "At their heart, they are all benefit cases," said Erin Barrett.

Hunton & Williams represents about 70 veterans, more clients than any other firm involved with the project, according to NVLSP. More than 100 Hunton & Willliams lawyers help with the project.

The College of William and Mary's law school set up a program to help veterans with their claims for benefits, and McGuireWoods has co-sponsored education and outreach sessions with the W&M program.

"Two of our alums who are vets were both retired JAG (Judge Advocate Generals) officers," said W&M law professor Patricia E. Roberts. "They were unsuccessful at filing their claims."

"If they couldn't pull it off as former JAG officers," Roberts said, "what about the regular Joe who wasn't an attorney?"

Since 2008, W&M's Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic has helped more than 300 veterans. Each case involves about 400 hours of donated legal and psychological work and typically takes 18 months to two years to be resolved once submitted.

"We have obtained more than $280,000 in back pay for 13 of our clients who have had some sort of resolution of at least part of their claim," said Roberts.

The attorneys maintain their clients' privacy.

"It's because of their psychological issues," said Erin Barrett. "A lot of them don't even talk to us. We have to build trust with those who are struggling with psychological issues."

The Virginia Bar Association's veterans initiative quoted a veteran's wife, identified as Clare O., as saying, "From the beginning of our involvement with the Veterans Benefits Clinic, our family's stress has decreased and since the VBC was able to get my husband permanent disability from the military, any worry over benefits will no longer be an issue.

"There is no way to explain how important this is to us," she said.