CHICAGO, Oct. 6 2011 – Young lawyers from throughout the country will volunteer in Seattle Oct. 14 to educate former servicemembers on available federal veterans’ benefits and help them complete the required forms.

The public service event, from 2 – 5 p.m. at Pike Market Senior Center, is part of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Fall Conference in Seattle Oct. 13-15.

The clinic will kick off a year-long ABA YLD initiative called Project Salute: Young Lawyers Serving Veterans. The concept was developed by the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and adopted by the ABA YLD as its 2011-12 national public service project.

“Through this initiative, young lawyers across the country will come together to honor and thank the brave members of our armed forces who have sacrificed much to ensure the safety and security of our country,” said ABA YLD chair Michael G. Bergmann. “We will work to help as many veterans as possible in all 50 states obtain their well-deserved federal benefits.”

The ABA YLD is mobilizing its state and local bar affiliates throughout the country to offer veterans benefit clinics in their communities. Clinics are scheduled for New Orleans in February, Nashville in May, and Chicago in August.

At each clinic, veterans view a multimedia educational video and then meet individually with volunteer lawyers. The lawyers guide the former servicemembers through various requirements and eligibility for federal veterans’ benefits and help them complete applications.

To set up media interviews with project participants or to cover the Seattle event, please contact Ira Pilchen, ira.pilchen@americanbar.org, 312-988-5743.

For more information about Project Salute: Young Lawyers Serving Veterans, please click here.

For a schedule of ABA YLD Fall Conference events in Seattle, please click here.

What:
ABA YLD Project Salute: Young Lawyers Serving Veterans clinic

When:
Oct. 14, 2 – 5 p.m.

Where:
Pike Market Senior Center, 85 Pike St., Suite 200
(just off of Post Alley, under Public Market Center clock), Seattle

Website:
www.ambar.org/yldservingveterans

Note: Veterans should bring DD Form 214, recent ratings decisions and any other documents that will help evaluate their federal veteran benefit situation.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

The ABA Young Lawyers Division, with more than 150,000 members and 300 affiliated groups, is the world’s largest young lawyer organization and the ABA’s largest division.

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