Upcoming Events:

 Veterans Benefits Law Training

Friday, March 5, 2010
9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Approx. 6 CLE Hours

The Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic will host a six-hour CLE training on Veterans Benefits Law. This training will satisfy the three-hour continuing legal education (CLE) requirement of 38 U.S.C. 14.629(b) if you are already accredited by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

For the training to count toward the required three-hour CLE, you must receive notification from the VA that you are accredited prior to the training. Accreditation can be obtained by submitting VA Form 21a. Completed forms may be mailed to the address indicated on the form, faxed to the Office of the General Counsel at 202.495.5457 or e-mailed as a PDF to ogaccreditationmailbox@va.gov. In our experience the accreditation process takes, on average, four to six weeks.

Click here for the Application for VA Accreditation

Recent Events

1/22/10 - VA Attorney Accreditation CLE

For the training to count toward the required three-hour CLE, you must receive notification from the VA that you are accredited prior to the training. Accreditation can be obtained by submitting VA Form 21a. Completed forms may be mailed to the address indicated on the form, faxed to the Office of the General Counsel at 202.495.5457 or e-mailed as a PDF to ogaccreditationmailbox@va.gov. In our experience the accreditation process takes, on average, four to six weeks.

Click here for the Application for VA Accreditation

11/6/09 - 11/7/09 Checkpoints & Roadblocks: The Intersection of Veterans & the Law

The Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic (VLSC) at The John Marshall Law School hosted a two-day conference on veterans and the courts.

“Checkpoints & Roadblocks: The Intersection of Veterans & the Law,” was held Nov. 6 and 7 at the law school.

Panel topics included “Special Issues Concerning OIF/OEF Veterans,” “Intervention Programs and Diversion Programs,” “Domestic Violence,” and “The Impact of Military Service on the Family.”

Panelists for the conference include Major L. Tammy Duckworth of the Illinois Army National Guard; Chief Judge William P. Greene of the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; Dan Grant, director of Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs; Army Brig. Gen. Clyde “Butch” Tate, Deputy Judge Advocate General; Judge Stephen Manley of the Superior Court of California; Judge Robert T. Russell of the Erie County Court in Buffalo, New York; and Judge John Kirby, of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, of the Supreme Court of Illinois; Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, of USA Midwest Public Affairs; Maj. Thomas White (LLM/IBT ’08), an assistant professor with the Department of Law at The United States Military Academy at West Point; and Steven Rosenbaum from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Housing and Civil Enforcement Section.

Thomas Kniffen (JD ’79) of the US Department of Veterans Affairs; Kevin Calia, of Morrison & Foerster LLP; Lt. Jeffry Murphy, of the Chicago Police Department; Courtney Wheeler, of the US Postal Service; Shauna Boliker, of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; and Capt. Lyndsey Kimber Olson.

8/28/09 – VLSC Attorney Training/ Post- Accreditation CLE

 

This all day program provides volunteers of the pro bono network of attorneys the high level overview and the basic skills required to assist veterans with their claims to the VA.  This program also satisfies the post-accreditation requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 14.629 which require completion of a three-hour CLE covering specific topics of Veterans Benefits Law. Attorneys who attend this training will be added to the list of attorneys who are referred cases from the VLSC.  The VLSC encourages all attorneys who want to participate in the pro bono network to attend a training program.  

 

2/20/09 – Military Service and the Law, at Southern Illinois University School of Law

 

The seminar focuses on a variety of issues important not only to servicemen and women and Veterans, but their families, employers, and other aspects of society. The conference will explore the laws of Illinois and surrounding states concerning the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act, family law issues, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The conference will also introduced the new Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education handbook, “Military Service & the Law.”

 

​1/23/09 - VLSC Attorney Training for Pro Bono Network

This all day program provides volunteers of the pro bono network of attorneys the high level overview and the basic skills required to assist Veterans with their claims to the VA.   The attorneys who attend this training will be added to the list of attorneys who are referred cases from the VLSC.  The VLSC encourages all attorneys who want to participate in the pro bono network to attend a training program.  

 

  

 

11/14/08 - VLSC Attorney Training for Pro Bono Network

 This all day program will provides volunteers to the pro bono network of attorneys the high level overview and the basic skills required to assist Veterans with their claims to the VA.   The attorneys who attend this training will be added to the list of attorneys who are referred cases from the VLSC.  The VLSC encourages all attorneys who want to participate in the pro bono network to attend a training program.  

 

 

 

 
11/12/08 - Peoria County Bar Association Seminar

 

 

There will be a Veterans Affairs Seminar at the Air National Guard Facility at the Greater Peoria Airport. The VLSC Executive Director Brian Clauss, Director Joseph Butler, and Staff Attorney Brian Morris will be presenting at the seminar. This course provides 4 hours of MCLE credit. For more information, view the Veterans Seminar Flyer

 

11/7/08 - 11/8/08- Legal and Medical Issues Facing Our Nation's Veterans

 

 

For further information and registration materials, please visit our conference page
                                   

 

2/27/08 Equip for Equality Consortium

 

 The VLSC will be participating in a luncheon with a number of groups who seek to better serve the disabled throughout the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.  The luncheon will address new programs, such as the VLSC, and new developments in technology and treatment. 

 

2/25/08 Training in the Metro East

 

 

 This all day program will provides volunteers to the pro bono network of attorneys the high level overview and the basic skills required to assist Veterans with their claims to the VA.   The attorneys who attend this training will be added to the list of attorneys who are referred cases from the VLSC.  The VLSC encourages all attorneys who want to participate in the pro bono network to attend a training program.    

 

 

11/9/07- CLE Program

The John Marshall Law School Veterans Legal Support Center (VLSC) was proud to host a CLE program on Veterans legal issues, including employment and re-employment rights, the United States' and Illinois' Veterans benefits, Illinois laws and family law on Friday, Nov. 9.

The program was moderated by VLSC Co-Executive Director Brian Clauss (J.D. '90), an arbitrator, mediator and attorney and ombudsman director of the Illinois Employer Support of Guard and Reserve.

Special speakers and guests included: Brian Clauss, Judge Abner Mikva, chairman of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, Margaret Riley, bureau chief of the Illinois Attorney General's Veterans Rights Bureau, Ryan Coward (J.D. '07), director of the VLSC, Ignacio Maramba, of Maramba & Associates, and Brig. Gen. Steven J. Lepper, staff judge advocate for Headquarters Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base.

The VLSC would like to thank all of our speakers and guests who attended this event.