Veteran Issues Digest Number 1731

[admin]

U of Detroit Law School. new clinic staffed by law students to help

Posted by: "Colonel Dan" colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net coloneldan1

Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:45 am (PST)

Note: ALL law schools should have this
http://www.law. udmercy.edu/

U of Detroit Law School. They have a new clinic staffed by law students to
help low income vets.

http://www.battlecr eekenquirer. com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?AID= 2008801190313

Article published Jan 19, 2008
Mobile Law Office to offer help to vets
Trace Christenson
The Enquirer

Lawyers are riding into Battle Creek next week to help military veterans.

A Mobile Law Office from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law will
make stops at American Legion Post 54 and the Haven of Rest on Tuesday to
provide free legal assistance to low income veterans.

The lawyers will be at the American Legion Post at 1125 E. Columbia Ave.
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at the Haven of Rest at 148 E. Michigan Ave. from
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

"We focus on providing legal assistance to veterans who are of lower income
and are having trouble with disability benefits," said Anita Scott-Meisel,
an attorney with the Mobile Law Office.

The consultation is free and no appointment is necessary.

An estimated 13,000 veterans live in Calhoun County, according to the
Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The university is being paid $200,000 by the state to provide the clinics,
which started last year in the Detroit area, but the program is expanding
across the state, according to Scott-Meisel, to include Grand Rapids,
Lansing, Flint and Traverse City. Other stops planned this year are Benton
Harbor, Muskegon and Pontiac.

"We try to do a lot of outreach before coming in," she said, "letting them
know we are going to be there."

Joe Pajak, commander of American Legion Post No. 54, said Friday he is
putting up fliers to tell veterans about the clinic, "but I just don't know
how big a problem it is."

He said the post tries to refer veterans to the appropriate agency when they
have questions but he does not hear many complain they don't receive their
proper benefits.

However, Michigan ranks 45th among states in federal health care spending
per veteran and 50th in veterans enrolled in Veterans Affairs health care,
according to the college. Average disability payments for Michigan veterans
are $7,241, compared to the national average of nearly $9,000.

Detroit Mercy School of Law is the only law school in the country with a
mobile law office, a 27-foot recreational vehicle outfitted as an office.
The law students and local volunteer attorneys helped about 800 people in
2007 during stops at senior centers, churches and other facilities.

Trace Christenson can be reached at 966-0685 or
tchrist@battlecr. gannett.com.