Wisconsin
Lawyer
Vol. 81, No. 5, May
2008
For the Good: Navy veteran John McMullen counsels
homeless veterans in partnership with Legal Action of Wisconsin
by Alyson K. Zierdt
Sidebar:
It was serendipity when John McMullen, a former U.S. Navy JAG Corps
lawyer, called
Mary Lansing of the La Crosse office of Legal Action of Wisconsin (LAW),
wanting to
become involved with LAW as a volunteer lawyer.
John had recently moved to Wisconsin because his wife, a family
physician, accepted
a position in Tomah. The move gave John the opportunity to follow his
dream of running
an organic produce farm, but he still wanted to maintain his
connection with the
legal profession. He passed the Wisconsin bar exam and contacted LAW
to explore
volunteer opportunities.
Mary thought that John's Tomah location and military background
would mesh well
with an idea she had. She wanted LAW to do something to help military
veterans living on
the grounds of the VA Hospital in Tomah at a facility owned and operated
by the
Veterans Assistance Foundation (VAF), a nonprofit corporation that
operates transitional
housing programs for military veterans who are homeless or are at risk
of becoming homeless.
Mary contacted the VAF-Tomah and learned that its resident
veterans needed the
opportunity to consult with lawyers about issues such as obtaining
disability benefits
and dealing with child support obligations. She then conceived the idea
of holding a
regularly scheduled free legal clinic on-site at the VAF facility and
decided that the
clinic would be the ideal project in which to involve John.
John agreed, and the legal clinic opened in November 2006. The
VAF provides the
space for the clinic and posts sign-up sheets on which veterans can
schedule their
appointments. The clinic was held monthly for its first year but now
runs in alternate
months. At least a dozen veterans have signed up for each clinic.
Since the clinic's inception, Mary and John have staffed it in a
process they
describe as "legal triage." In each initial meeting with a
veteran, they listen to everything
a veteran has to say, sort the legal from the nonlegal issues, and
determine what can
be done to address both kinds of issues.
Typically, each veteran has a combination of problems that can
include physical
disability, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other kinds of
mental illness,
joblessness, depression, and substance abuse. Many veterans have lost
family support
and burned bridges in their lives. Most are from the Vietnam War era,
although Mary
recently saw a client in his 20s, an Iraq War combat veteran, who has
been given a 100
percent disability rating due to PTSD.
Some issues can be addressed on the spot, such as letting a
veteran facing a
criminal charge know that he is eligible for a public defender. More,
however, require some
follow up. In civil matters, if the veteran qualifies to receive legal
services from
LAW, Mary and LAW will undertake the further representation. In criminal
matters, John
has defended veterans from the clinic, on a pro bono basis.
Mary and John point out that not all of the problems the
veterans bring to the
clinic are legal, but that the veterans are in such difficult straits
that they don't
know where to start to find answers to questions like what amount of
child support they
owe or how to apply for certain benefits. The problems of the veterans
who use the
legal clinic, John says, "are so much more compelling than I had
anticipated."
Although finding the answers to the veterans' nonlegal questions
can be tedious,
John feels that his training as a lawyer prepared him to improvise when
necessary to
find those answers, and in that way, to be an advocate for the veterans.
He estimates
that, between the clinic hours and following up with the veterans as
needed, he spends
roughly five to 10 hours per month on matters related to the clinic. In
addition to
volunteering at the clinic, John grows organic produce on his 60-acre
farm and maintains a
part-time legal practice with the Sparta firm of Gleiss Locante &
Associates.
Deborah Johnson, executive director of VAF-Tomah, says that the
legal clinic has
been a positive service for the veterans, and that Mary's and John's
work in the clinic
has helped the veterans navigate through the legal system and gain a new
perspective
of lawyers as people who can help rather than as people to be feared.
Mary's and John's work at the legal clinic is the subject of a
30-second commercial
as part of the State Bar of Wisconsin Branding the Profession effort.
The ad is part of
a statewide rotation that included a series of commercials shown in the
La Crosse and
Eau Claire region in the fall of 2007 and currently is showing in the
Milwaukee area.
The "Wisconsin Lawyers Make a Difference" TV series highlights
lawyers who demonstrate
exemplary commitment to community or pro bono service. The branding
effort reinforces
the things the public values most about Wisconsin lawyers: expert
advice,
problem-solving skills, and community service. To view the TV spots
produced as part of the
series, visit www.wisbar.org/branding.
Wisconsin
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