austinbar.org OCTOBER 2016 | VOLUME 25, NUMBER 8
Making a Difference in the Lives of Veterans The Austin Bar Shines as Part of the ABA’s Veterans Legal Services Initiative BY NANCY GRAY, AUSTIN BAR ASSOCIATION
A
ustin Bar Association member and pastpresident, Jo Ann Merica, recalls a July morning in 2010 when she was driving to the Austin Bar’s first Free Legal Advice Clinic for Veterans. She had no idea what to expect when she arrived. Earlier that spring, she had met with then-Texas State Bar President, Terry Tottenham. Tottenham’s major initiative for his term in office was to provide additional legal services to veterans. He appointed Merica and Travis Sales to co-chair the statewide Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans committee to carry out the initiative. The Austin Bar quickly responded by forming their own Veterans Project committee with Merica and Randy Howry as co-chairs. Flyers were sent out to local veterans groups and signs were posted at the VA’s outpatient clinic. Volunteer attorneys were lined up, and Merica was on her way to take the early shift that first summer day. DeLaine Ward, executive director of the Austin Bar, had arrived to set up at 7:30 a.m., about half an hour before the clinic was set to open, when she called Merica to find out when she would arrive. “I’m on my way, I should be there in about ten minutes,” Merica said. “Good,” said Ward, “Because there are 70 people
already lined up waiting to see a lawyer!” All visions of complicated intake forms were thrown out the window and Merica, along with a team of lawyers representing all manner of specialty areas, talked to veterans, back-to-back, all day long. The Austin Bar’s Free Legal Advice Clinic for Veterans was born. Since that day, almost 3,000 veterans have been served by the clinic in Austin. This year, the American Bar Association’s President Linda Klein has established the ABA Veterans Legal Services Initiative which is the focus of October’s Pro Bono Month. The Austin Bar is proud to participate by continuing to meet the needs of veterans in Central Texas at its monthly clinic on October 10 at the VA outpatient clinic in Austin. While the veteran population has decreased on a national level, Texas has seen an increase. There are more than 130,000 veterans in Travis and surrounding counties. In August 2016, the clinic expanded beyond Travis County thanks to a grant received from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. Two clinics were held in Williamson County and another was held in Gillespie County. Now managed by Austin Bar staff attorney Doug Lawrence, the expanded clinics provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income veterans and their families. The assistance comes
A study from the Department of Veterans Affairs says at least five of the top 10 problems leading to homelessness among veterans can’t be solved without legal help.
Jo Ann Merica listens as a veteran discusses his legal issues.
in the form of free legal advice and pro bono representation. According to a July 8, 2016 Washington Post article by Martha Bergmark and Ellen Lawton on veterans and homelessness, nearly 50,000 veterans in the United States currently sleep on the streets. A study from the Department of Veterans Affairs says at least five of the top 10 problems leading to homelessness among veterans can’t be solved without legal help. Providing
medical help, or more beds, often doesn’t solve the root problem facing this population. Many veterans are not receiving the help they need for problems requiring legal assistance such as fighting evictions, upgrading military discharge status, or restoring a driver’s license. As the authors state in the article, “Even something that sounds simple, such as restoring a driver’s license that expired during continued on page 8