Veterans Advocacy
Sidley provides pro bono assistance to disabled veterans seeking fair and timely benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Armed Forces. Our lawyers represent veterans on claims for VA service-connected disability compensation at the agency and before federal courts and assist with applications for Combat Related Special Compensation to the military and with petitions to military corrections boards for relief, such as discharge upgrades and military retirement. We work with individual veterans seeking benefits, as well as with veterans’ advocacy groups, to pursue systemic challenges.
“Sidley has partnered with NVLSP since 1986 and has consistently demonstrated excellence and a deep commitment to pro bono representation on behalf of our nation’s veterans. While many firms accept only a few pro bono referrals from Lawyers Serving Warriors® per year, Sidley has been eager to help dozens of veterans each year. The pro bono representation provided by Sidley’s volunteers is invaluable to veterans who lack the resources to successfully apply for disability benefits on their own. Furthermore, since many of the veterans applying for disability benefits suffer from debilitating mental health conditions or other cognitive impairments, the assistance of volunteer lawyers from Sidley is vital to enable disabled veterans to succeed with their claims.”
Rochelle Bobroff, Director of Pro Bono Program, Lawyers Serving Warriors®, a project of the National Veterans Legal Services Program
Discharge Upgrades
An Upgraded Characterization Unbars VA Benefits
Veterans who do not receive an “Honorable” discharge characterization when leaving the military may later petition military boards to “upgrade” their discharge characterizations on the grounds of error/impropriety or injustice/inequity. In 2020, the firm obtained discharge upgrade victories for two clients that illustrate the diverse circumstances that can underlie such situations. In one case, the firm won an upgrade from “Other than Honorable” to “General,” a distinction that removes a presumed bar to VA benefits and is less stigmatizing, for an Army veteran who served as a combat engineer in Iraq and earned, among other awards, a Combat Action Badge. Upon return to the United States, he got in trouble for drinking, insubordination, and going AWOL and was administratively discharged from the military. Working in conjunction with in-house lawyers the firm established that the soldier was experiencing undiagnosed PTSD after his deployment, a fact that made the “Other Than Honorable” discharge inequitable. This case was referred by UIC John Marshall Law School’s Veterans Legal Clinic.
Proving an Inequitable Characterization Opens Doors for a Survivor
On another case, the firm won an upgrade to “Honorable” for a female Army veteran who served two deployments in Iraq. She was sexually assaulted while serving in Germany and subsequently administratively discharged for a “pattern of misconduct” including substance abuse, behavior that the military now acknowledges is unfortunately common. She was given a “General” discharge, a characterization that, while preferable to “Other Than Honorable,” bars veterans from using the GI Bill. The firm proved that her discharge characterization was inequitable because her behavioral problems were a product of her mental health struggles following the assault. She can now pursue higher education with assistance of the GI Bill.
Securing Medical Retirement
In mid-2020, the firm obtained medical retirement for a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq. The veteran was medically discharged from the military due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Under relevant regulations, the veteran should have been temporarily medically retired, which confers monetary and non-monetary benefits, and then reassessed periodically for continuing eligibility for retirement. Instead, he was given a lump sum separation payment, depriving him of the status and benefits of a military retiree. When the veteran failed to obtain relief at a military review board, Sidley represented him in a federal district court case brought under the Administrative Procedure Act. Sidley obtained a remand back to the military boards. After additional briefing, the Army awarded the veteran with the permanent medical retirement and associated benefits earned by his service and warranted by his conditions.
Drawing on this experience, Sidley was subsequently able to jointly represent two additional veterans with nearly identical fact patterns to the first case in an additional case filed in federal court; those two veterans also then won medical retirements from the Army and Navy, respectively. In both cases, Sidley’s co-counsel was the National Veterans Legal Services Program. As an added bonus, obtaining retirement entitled these combat veterans to additional benefit programs, on which Sidley is providing further assistance.
An Appeal Wins VA Benefits
The firm won service-connected disability benefits for a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and was knocked unconscious in multiple events, including when a suicide bomber detonated a device at a military checkpoint where he was on patrol. After the incident the veteran experienced dizziness and headaches and memory loss, symptoms that have continued for years. Despite being an infantryman and despite fellow unit members dying in the suicide bombing incident, the VA denied him benefits for traumatic brain injury, holding that he had failed to prove the incident occurred. Sidley appealed the denial of benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals, which granted his claim, leading to a backpay award and increased ongoing monthly disability compensation.
Combat Related Special Compensation
The firm handles multiple “Combat Related Special Compensation” claims annually, a benefit available to retired veterans who can demonstrate that the disabilities that the Department of Veterans Affairs has deemed “service connected” are also “combat related” as defined by statutes and Department of Defense guidance. One such case that the firm won in 2020 was for a former Air Force pilot who attributed his PTSD, in part, to having to drop bombs near Iraqi forces as they withdrew from Kuwait in the Gulf War, something that filled him with guilt. He also suffered back and spine injuries and tinnitus from years in cramped, noisy, vibrating fighter jets. The firm proved that these injuries were “combat related” and the veteran now receives additional monthly disability compensation and received a sizeable retroactive award.
