Kristine Huskey, a law professor and director of the Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Arizona, describes the clinic as a pro-bono law firm inside of the law school where the primary attorneys are law students.
Talking about this recently on an InsideSources webinar about veterans, Huskey called it an "awesome" way to help U.S. service members.
"We're training law students to learn about veterans' issues, to learn substantive law and training them on lawyering skills," she detailed. "I have 14 law students in my clinic, and they are going out, under my supervision, helping veterans."
When those students graduate from law school, she said many of them go on to practice veterans' law or help veterans in some way, whether it's pro-bono at their law firm, in a state agency, or just in their own practice.
Huskey figures her clinic has helped more than 350 veterans in a variety of ways.
"We provide direct legal representation in a Veterans Treatment Court, which is essentially a drug and a mental health court for veterans who have found themselves caught up in the justice system and really just need a little counseling therapy, substance abuse assistance to get them back in society," the professor explained.
In addition to helping them get drug-free and address their mental health issues and criminal charges, the clinic also helps veterans with VA benefits and legal barriers in other areas.
"Family law is a very common legal issue that veterans face," Huskey noted. "Benefits is another one. So, we help any veteran who calls us. It doesn't matter their service [or] discharge. We will help them and direct them in the right way to get the legal help that they need."
The goal is to remove those barriers so that veterans can be contributing to members of society.
