Puller Clinic Partners with Starbucks to Support Veterans Through "Military Mondays" Initiative
The Lewis B. Puller Veterans Benefits Clinic at William & Mary Law School recently assisted its 500th veteran through its “Military Mondays” program.
Established in June 2015, the program was piloted in coordination with Starbuck’s Armed Forces Network and launched in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia – home to several active military bases, upwards of 100,000 active-duty and reserve personnel, and thousands of veterans. “Military Mondays” is intended to help address the challenges veterans face in the disability claims process and provides a place for veterans, service members, and their families to find community, conversation, and information. The program is free to participants.
In many ways, Military Mondays operates like a stream-lined assessment and screening organization: when a veteran submits an application to the Puller Clinic for services, Clinic staff review the application to determine which questions can be answered in an hour at Starbucks, and which might require deeper analysis. Sometimes, the law students and staff are able to assist the veteran during their appointment at Starbucks; at other times, they provide guidance so the veteran can complete the process on his/her own. If an hour isn’t long enough to cover the veteran’s issues or more research is needed, the veteran may be referred to the larger Clinic, where more research and information-gathering can take place. Depending on the nature of the claims, the complexity of the case, and the type of evidence that may be required, the Clinic may take on the veteran as a formal client.
In January 2016, the Clinic and Starbucks Armed Forces Network were honored with the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 2016 Brown Select Award for this innovative program. The criteria for the award included innovation in the provision of legal services to those with unmet legal needs of the middle class and those of moderate incomes, and the potential for replication of the program.
The Puller Clinic handles hundreds of veteran benefits cases each year. Under the supervision of clinic attorneys, dozens of law students get intensive hands-on training each year in complex claims requiring extensive legal and factual research. Law students often accrue more than 100 hours a semester doing disability claims casework for veterans.