TBJ JUNE 2022
Access to Justice for Texas Veterans
Making sure our veterans are being served,
as they have served us.
Written by Terry O. Tottenham
With roughly 1.4 million veterans,1 Texas is in the top 10
states with the largest population of veterans, including thousands who
face hardships impacting their health, housing, stability, and
productivity. Access to the justice system and civil legal aid can be
vital to removing obstacles facing veterans returning to civilian life
after active duty and for those who served our country many decades ago.
In its 2017 Justice Gap study, the Legal Services Corporation found that
71% of surveyed veteran households faced at least one civil legal
challenge that year. One may easily overlook the myriad complications
veterans face when they come home—landlord/tenant disputes, child
custody issues, consumer and finance issues, health issues, and more.
Two of the primary legal issues specific to veterans include Veterans
Benefits Administration and Veterans Health Administration claims and
character of discharge determinations and military record corrections.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the problems that already existed for
veterans, particularly in housing insecurity and access to medical
care.
An alarming number of our veterans also face poverty and homelessness.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ recent survey of
homeless and formerly homeless veterans, unmet needs of homeless
veterans involve legal assistance for: eviction/foreclosure prevention,
child support issues, outstanding warrants/fines, and restoring a
driver’s license. Other unmet needs often have a legal component: family
reconciliation assistance, credit counseling, and government
benefits.
As a veteran, I know the sacrifices made by so many military families in
serving our country. I was seeing the challenges facing the young men
and women returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they
influenced my major initiative during my tenure as State Bar of Texas
president—creating Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans, or TLTV. Based on a
model program started by the Houston Bar Association in 2008, TLTV is a
collaborative effort of local bar associations, legal aid organizations,
veterans service providers, pro bono lawyers, and law schools to host
legal advice clinics throughout the state. More than 32,000 Texas
veterans and their families have been helped by TLTV since the program
began more than 10 years ago and the model has been implemented in other
states.
Today, legal services for veterans is funded in part by the Texas
Legislature upon the urging of the Texas Supreme Court, by the Texas
Access to Justice Foundation through grants to 14 legal aid providers,
and by generous individuals and law firms sponsoring the annual
Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans co-hosted by the Texas
Access to Justice Commission and the State Bar of Texas. In 2017,
Richard Mithoff created the Joe Jamail Endowment for Veteran Legal
Services, a lasting mechanism to ensure that Texas veterans have access
to the legal help they need and deserve.
While there have been many challenges since the pandemic in delivering
legal services, the work and the help is still available to veterans.
Legal aid providers had to pivot from in-person intake, live veteran
legal aid clinics, and outreach to using online technology, phone
intake, and virtual clinics to reach those in need. Legal aid programs
that once had an office in VA clinics or conducted regular legal aid
clinics at hospitals had to be removed from having a physical presence
on-site at those locations due to the pandemic. While some legal aid
programs are returning to the VA hospitals, most are not yet on a
regular basis.
The Texas veterans legal aid programs collaborated to create a new
outreach tool during the pandemic: a video series covering topics of
interest to veteran clients available at texaslawhelp.org. The series covers
a veterans benefits overview, VA disability benefits, veterans and
family law, an intro to criminal justice resources for veterans, and
psychiatric advance directives. Many legal aid staff have also become
trainers and provide technical support in computer skills to help
veterans navigate Zoom calls, online forms, and virtual hearings. For
veterans without adequate access to technology, there is also a
statewide hotline at 800-622-2520, coordinated by the Texas Legal
Services Center.
As a lawyer and a veteran, I am proud of the work of our advocates in
serving the legal needs of veterans and their continued effort in
ensuring access to justice for all. Legal aid services can make a
profound difference in the lives of veterans and help them achieve
economic security, avoid homelessness, and promote stability within
their family relationships. I encourage you to volunteer at your local
legal aid or pro bono program or to join in sponsoring the Champions of
Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans. We are all responsible for making sure
our veterans are being served, as they have served us.TBJ
TERRY O. TOTTENHAM
is of counsel to Fulbright & Jaworski in Austin. He is certified
in personal injury and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal
Specialization. As State Bar of Texas president, he created the
successful pro bono initiative Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans.
