The Illinois State Bar Association is a partner in an intensive statewide project to help veterans obtain the legal services they need to get the disability and educational benefits they deserve.

“Fast, free, and fair” is the goal of the project, according to Judge Ronald D. Spears of Taylorville, chair of the ISBA Committee on Military Affairs. ISBA is launching “Operation Fairness for Veterans” as its effort to recruit and train lawyers who, for the first time, are permitted to represent disabled veterans at hearings on appeals related to their claims.

Spears and ISBA President Joseph G. Bisceglia joined officials of other participants in an explanatory news conference Sept. 5 at The John Marshall Law School.

Others present were Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald, L. Tammy Duckworth of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, JMLS Dean John E. Corkery, JMLS Veterans Legal Support Center director Brian E. Clauss, and Cheryl I. Niro, executive director of the Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism.

“Of all the people whose wellbeing ought to be important to us are our veterans who have been wounded and disabled,” Justice Fitzgerald said.

“Sometimes the process to seek benefits for the disabled, through federal and local agencies, can be difficult for the uninitiated,” he added. “The support of a lawyer can be very valuable.”

Veterans initially filing disability claims can call on trained advocates through IDVA, but a change in federal law now allows legal representation at later stages of the process. “The military expression ‘force multiplier' will be in effect when legal talent is added to the mix,” said Spears.

Duckworth presented a grant of $100,000 from IDVA to John Marshall's new Veterans' Legal Services Center, headed by Brian Clauss.

The brainchild of four law students, the clinic is the first in the nation dedicated solely to support veterans in the administrative claims process. Forty lawyers and students are expected to attend the first training session on Friday, Oct. 5.

The legal coalition was generated by Justice Fitzgerald in conversations with Niro, an ISBA past president, about finding ways to provide free legal services to disabled veterans.

She enlisted Spears, a retired Army National Guard colonel who already had a widespread ISBA pro bono effort under way for veterans, and Corkery, who is a member of the Commission on Professionalism.

“The coincidence was remarkable,” Niro said. “There is something about creating a project at the right time. Providing legal services to veterans is in the hearts and minds of all Illinois lawyers, and everyone wants to help.”

John Marshall's “Train-the-Trainers” course is open to any attorney who makes a commitment to train others and to handle at least one case without charging a fee.

The ISBA plans to coordinate additional training sessions in Central and Southern Illinois. Several hundred ISBA members volunteered previously to provide representation for military personnel and their families in legal matters related to active duty.