Friday, July 11, 2008

No Family Left Behind

I'm just back from a conference ("No Family Left Behind") on helping servicemembers and their families with legal issues that arise from their deployment.

Deployment is hard on everyone, but there are special burdens on our National Guard and Reserve. Imagine you're making $100,000 a year, and have a mortgage or lease to match. Suddenly you're called up; you'll be away from home 15 months or more, at a massive pay cut. How will you cover your mortgage on service pay? What if they try to foreclose while you're in Baghdad? And so on ...

Attorneys for Citizen-soldiers and Families (AACF) is a joint project of the Legal Assistance for Military Personnel (LAMP) Section of the Washington State Bar Association and the Washington National Guard Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. AACF recruits, trains and supports legal professionals willing to give pro bono services to Washington National Guard members and their families.

Our law offers many protections to deployed servicemembers, but our community needs to know about them to cut problems off before they develop. Usually an employer or landlord will do the right thing, if they know in advance what the law requires ... or are reminded in a timely way by an appropriate professional. This is not only good for troop morale, it's also the right and just thing to do. Join us!

Learn more: http://aacf.wordpress.com/

(We'll have videos of the training up soon. The more who know the law, the better for everyone!)

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