As part of its annual campaign to provide U.S. military veterans with essential legal services,TRLA is hosting “Ask-a-Lawyer” legal clinics for vets in El Paso, San Antonio, and the Austin area. Attorneys and paralegals also are passing out information and taking inquiries from veterans seeking legal assistance at other public events.
“There’s a great need for legal services within the veterans’ community,” said TRLA attorney Reneé Treviño, who organizes the annual campaign. “Veterans struggle to get their benefits — the critical medical, and disability benefits that they’ve earned through their service. And because of their deployment, they face family problems that require legal assistance.”
The campaign started with a Nov. 5 clinic at the Oak Ridge Baptist Church in San Antonio and will end with the Nov. 17 “Vet Fest” in Round Rock just outside of Austin, which coincides with the Nov. 11-17 Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week (TVLAW), a statewide campaign coordinated by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF). During that week, legal aid programs like TRLA, as well as bar associations, law schools and pro bono private lawyers, will provide civil legal services for low-income veterans throughout the state.
Texas has the second-highest population of former U.S. military members in the country, according to TAJF, which provides $1.87 million in grants to fund legal aid for 8,500 veterans annually. Free legal services can be instrumental to their ability to support themselves and their families.
In fact, access to legal representation is among the top 10 unmet needs of homeless veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports. TAJF funds 15 nonprofit organizations that help Texas veterans who are dealing with civil legal problems. Among them is TRLA’s Veterans Advocacy Project, which represents not only veterans but also active duty members and their spouses, widows, widowers, and dependent children.

TRLA’S NOVEMBER 2018 CLINICS AND OUTREACH FOR VETERANS

Austin area

• Veterans “Ask-a-Lawyer” free legal clinic; 1:30-4pm, Nov.13; Austin VA Outpatient Clinic, 7901 Metropolis Dr., Austin, 78744; Contact: Reneé Treviño, rtrevino@trla.org.

• Vet Fest (TRLA staff will distribute legal information and take inquiries from veterans); Nov. 17; Old Settler's Park Pavillion, 1001 Harrell Pkwy, Round Rock, 78665. Contact Jerad Nicholson at jnicholson@trla.org or 512-374-2716
  
  El Paso
  

• Veterans Center Open House (TRLA staff will distribute legal information and take inquiries from veterans); 11am-2pm, Nov. 7, Veterans Center (1155 Westmoreland Dr.

• Homeless Veteran Chili Cookoff (TRLA staff will distribute legal information and take inquiries from veterans); Nov. 8; Veteran One Stop Center, 9565 Diana Dr.;

• Veterans “Ask-a-Lawyer” free legal clinic; Nov. 13; William Beaumont Army Medical Center, 5005 N. Piedras St., El Paso 79920.
  

  San Antonio
  

• Veterans “Ask-a-Lawyer” free legal clinic; 10am-2pm, Nov. 5; Oak Ridge Baptist Church, 10915 Vance Jackson Rd., San Antonio, 78230.

• Veterans “Ask-a-Lawyer” free legal clinic; 9am-12pm, Nov. 7; recreation room of the Audie Murphy Memorial VA Hospital (7400 Merton Minter, San Antonio).

• Veterans “Ask-a-Lawyer” free legal clinic; 11am-2pm, Nov. 8; San Antonio Veterans Center, Takas Park (9810 Jim Seal Dr., San Antonio)