Many military troops returning from deployment face a multitude of legal problems. Because Military Regulations limit the type of cases that active duty military lawyers (JAGs) can accept, these troops are left out in the cold.

Federal Law exists to protect the troops when they are deployed. For instance, the Service Member Civil Relief Act (SCRA) allows deploying troops to get out of home and car leases and the U.S. Employment and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA) protects their civilian jobs. But, all too often landlords and employers do not understand – or simply refuse to follow these laws.

Private employers and landlords are not the only source of legal frustrations for the troops. Combat wounded and disabled troops return from war only to fight another battle -- against the military -- for disability benefits they are entitled to receive. Disability proceedings are complicated and retracted, and all too often the Military denies benefits to troops who qualify for them.

For example, in 2005 Congress passed a new law establishing the Traumatic Service Group Life Insurance (TSGLI) program. Congress created the TSGLI benefit to off-set the expenses of being traumatically wounded. The benefit provides a one-time lump sum payment that ranges from $25,000 to $100,000.00, depending on the type and extent of the soldier’s injury. But, in some cases, soldiers must prove that they required assistance with particular “activities of daily living” in order to recover. The burden of proof is on the soldier. Often medical records from combat and field hospitals are unavailable, or woefully incomplete, and fellow soldier witnesses are difficult to track down.

Which injuries qualify as “traumatic wounds” and whether the soldier required assistance with particular activities of daily living are often up for debate, and usually the scale tips in favor of the Military. While the Military has an appellate process, it provides little, or no, explanation for denials below. The reasons for denial remain a mystery, which leaves soldiers guessing about which issues to appeal.

The Military regularly denies TSGLI claims. Studies show that soldiers represented by lawyers fair pretty well on appeal; those without lawyers do not.

CHAPMAN LAW SCHOOL’S MILITARY PERSONNEL LAW CENTER & AMVETS CLINIC:

Chapman University School of Law recently launched its Military Personnel Law Center & AMVETS Clinic, which provides legal representation to active duty families, and veterans, who need help. Its premier partner is AMVETS, a leading national veterans’ organization. This Clinic is made possible by a generous gift from AMVETS.

Chapman’s new Military Center & AMVETS Clinic represents soldiers in all types of civil legal claims, including TSGLI appeals. For instance, one case involves a TSGLI claim which the Army has twice denied. The soldier was seriously injured while running from a mortar attack in Iraq. The TSGLI Board denied benefits because, it claimed, his injury was not combat related. Law students at Chapman disagree.

Kyndra Rotunda and her students (at a former clinic that she directed) have successfully appealed similar TSGLI denials. One case involved a combat wounded Marine who tragically lost two fingers on one hand, and use of his other hand, when a road-side bomb exploded near his convoy in Iraq. In one year this Marine underwent over a dozen operations on his hands, which were constantly bandaged and swollen for months at a time.

The Marine Corps had twice denied him benefits on grounds that he did not require assistance with activities of daily living. But, Rotunda and her students discovered that the TSGLI board was not applying the proper legal standard. Instead, it applied an unreasonably rigid legal standard, unknown under the law. Research revealed that this new legal standard originated from a TSGLI training power-point slide. Essentially, the Marine Corps had amended a federal law by power-point.

Rotunda and her students pointed out the error. The appeal was successful and their client recovered tens of thousands of dollars. After that, in a memorandum to Secretary Gates, Rotunda alerted the Pentagon to the problem. The Pentagon then fixed its power-point slides to reflect the correct legal standard. Rotunda and her students considered their work on the case a big win – for their client and also for other soldiers filing TSGLI claims.

The mother of the wounded Marine said, He’s an “Everyday Hero,” but when it comes to any legal dilemma, he’s just an average Joe, like most enlisted Marines and Soldiers. Unfortunately, these men and woman suffering through dark times without proper representation are being cheated out of benefits they deserve and desperately need. . . . Without her [Rotunda’s] direction and the hard work of her students, we would have failed twice and my son would have been denied [benefits].

CALIFORNIA IDEAL LOCATION FOR AMVETS CLINIC:

Chapman University is located in California, which is an ideal home for this innovative new clinic. California has 27 military installations, and about 200,000 military troops. What’s more, many of these installations are a short distance from Chapman Law School, which is located in the heart of Orange County. These installations include Camp Pendleton and several Navy and Marine Corps installations in San Diego.

Chapman is only a few miles from Los Alamitos Joint Training Base, where 5,000 military troops come for training each month. In fact, Chapman’s new clinic has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Los Alamitos based Army Wounded Warrior Program, to work cooperatively with active duty and reserve Army JAGs in all types of cases. Students at Chapman will also support the Wounded Warrior “stand-downs” which are day-long workshops where soldiers and veterans can come for on-the-spot legal guidance. Students will work right alongside our uniformed troops, helping wounded troops with their legal problems.

Chapman Law School, located in Orange California, is the only clinical program of its kind on the West Coast. While a handful of law schools in the country have similar clinical programs, most focus exclusively on veterans. Chapman is the only one handling both active duty and veteran cases.

Although Chapman’s program only recently launched, it is already planning its expansion. Dozens of Chapman University College campuses exist in California. Many of them are located on, or near military bases. Chapman will open several satellite offices at these locations to help maximize its impact and represent as many troops as possible.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED AND HELP THE TROOPS

Chapman’s program is already inundated with cases – mostly combat wounded matters. But, Chapman can’t do it alone. One important component of the program is establishing a network of volunteer supervising and referring lawyers.

If your law firm is looking to expand its pro bono program; or if you just want to volunteer to help with a case, or two, please contact the Military Personnel Law Center Director, Kyndra Rotunda, at krotunda@chapman.edu.

Kyndra Rotunda is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law, and the founding Director of Chapman’s new Military Personnel Law Center & AMVETS Clinic. She is a JAG Officer in the reserves and author of Honor Bound: Inside the Guantanamo Trials (Carolina Academic Press, June 2008). Rotunda represented hundreds of wounded troops when she was on active duty and assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She was the lawyer assigned to Private Jessica Lynch after Lynch was rescued.