FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is a high-impact national veterans service organization based in Washington DC. Our mission is to ensure that the government delivers to our nation’s 22 million veterans and active duty personnel the benefits to which they are entitled due to the disabilities that resulted from their military service. NVLSP’s Lawyers Serving Warriors® (“LSW”) program provides free legal representation, through a nationwide pro bono network of private law firms and corporate legal departments, to disabled active duty personnel and veterans and their families. LSW has assisted more than 1,600 disabled veterans through its pro bono network.
NVLSP seeks an applicant to sponsor for a 2018 Equal Justice Works (EJW) Fellowship. We are focusing on development of a medical legal partnership to assist veterans seeking disability benefits through our LSW pro bono program. Many veterans who were denied disability benefits do not have access to free medical care and often do not have treating medical professionals to support their claims. In some cases, the veterans need psychological and/or physical evaluations to submit as evidence to buttress their claims. In other cases, veterans need a specialized medical records review to demonstrate that their illnesses or injuries are service connected.
We are open to project ideas and interested in supporting the development of a proposal to build a national medical legal partnership that will offer high quality medical evaluations and records review services to the disabled veterans receiving LSW’s pro bono legal support. The fellow would develop and implement the partnership, including the contractual negotiations with medical professionals. The fellow would also assist in mentoring law firm pro bono lawyers who utilize the network, for instance drafting questions to be posed to the medical professionals.
The fellowship is targeted to candidates who are law students entering their third year or recent graduates completing a judicial clerkship in the summer of 2017. The fellowship would start in the fall of 2018 and continue for two years. Experienced LSW veterans’ benefits attorneys will work closely with the fellow, providing guidance and support.
To apply, send a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and list of 3 references to
Rochelle Bobroff, Director of Pro Bono
Via e-mail: [email protected]
The proposal must be submitted to EJW by late September. We encourage immediate submission of applications to NVLSP.