June 11-12/Seattle - Seattle Draft & Military Counseling Center Volunteer Training

Among my current projects is working with SDMCC and Seattle University on GI Rights Training. Here's the announcement:

Open to: All law students
Time Commitment: 14 hours, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12
Location: Seattle University School of Law, Sullivan Hall, Room 327
Application process: RSVP to Celeste Miller by June 9.
Contact: Celeste Miller, Program Coordinator, Access to Justice Institute. Email: millerc5@seattleu.edu. Phone: 206-398-4455
Take advantage of this volunteer opportunity with Seattle Draft & Military Counseling Center which provides a hotline for active service members and veterans in order for them to learn about GI and veteran rights. It is a low time commitment of four hours a month with the possible opportunity of following up on certain issues if they get referred to an attorney.
The two day training is an amazing resource for anyone interested in learning about issues faced by military service members and veterans. Whether you served in the military and are familiar with many of these topics and need a detailed refresher, or if you have recently become interested in serving the GI and veteran community, this training is indispensable!
The training covers rights and resources for active service members and their families such as types of discharges (Conscientious Objector, Hardship, etc), Family Plans (for caring for children while service members are deployed), and Court Martial and AWOL procedures.
It also covers rights and resources for veterans such as discharge upgrades, and non veteran issues that can become veteran issues (child support, DUI, incarceration, etc).
Finally it provides background and training on the organizational structure of the Armed Forces, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and other issues faced by active service members and veterans such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
All materials will be emailed to attendees in a PDF.
Lunch is on your own each day. 

MORE:
http://atji.blogspot.com/2011/05/seattle-draft-military-counseling.html

Memorial Day During Two And A Half Wars

Between Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya, we're in at least one full and three partial wars - call it two-and-a-half wars.

As Doonesbury reminds us, anyone who waxes sentimental on Memorial Day without working to end this situation is missing something important.
Have your picnics, wear your yellow ribbons, tell a veteran "thank you for your service" ... why not?
But don't fool yourself into thinking that you're doing anything, if you're not.

Here's something my legal professional friends can think about:

From the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Project website:

IF: you are an attorney interested in our program, we will provide you with:

A day-long training class on veterans' law issues. When you accept a case referred from the Program, we will provide you with the following services: A comprehensive analysis of the appellant's case as a guideline for the appeal; Extensive legal research materials, including a CD-ROM with an on-line research capability; A mentoring attorney to assist you in formulating your litigation strategy; A case monitor, to ensure that no deadlines are overlooked during the appeals process; and We will take your phone calls and we wll answer your questions. If you are interested in volunteering you must attend a day-long training. To find out more about future training dates, please visithttp://www.vetsprobono.org/newsite/train/trainingdates.htm or email us at probonoprogram@nvlsp.org

LEARN MORE HERE:

http://www.vetsprobono.org/attorney.htm