Dana Montalto, of LSC’s Veterans Legal Clinic, Receives 2024 Dave Myers Award for Work on Behalf of Veterans
In recognition of her decade-long effort to persuade the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to revise its regulations so that thousands more veterans may receive critical benefits and services, Dana Montalto, Associate Director of the Veterans Legal Clinic, has received the 2024 Dave Myers Award from the National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC). She was jointly nominated by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), Swords to Plowshares, and LSC.
The Dave Myers Award is given to an advocate or attorney who “had an extraordinary impact on veterans’ an/or service members’ lives through direct legal advocacy and/or policy advocacy,” according to the letter nominating her.
“We are thrilled to see Dana’s fearless lawyering and trailblazing leadership recognized in this way,” says Daniel Nagin, faculty director of LSC and the Veterans Legal Clinic. “Dana combines a brilliant legal mind with an unmatched commitment to justice. For the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wrongfully marginalized and excluded, there is simply no better champion than Dana. She is deeply admired and respected by all who know her, and she is an incredibly deserving recipient of this distinguished award.”
Before the successful advocacy of a coalition led by Montalto, approximately half a million veterans were being excluded from full access to VA benefits and care because they received a so-called “bad paper discharge.” In many of these cases, the discharge was defective, unwarranted, or unjust, often arising from racial or anti-LGBTQ discrimination, conduct related to having experienced military sexual trauma, or conduct related to PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Many of these veterans are most in need of services because of untreated mental health or substance abuse disorders, poverty, and homelessness.
Montalto, who at the Clinic represents low-income veterans who received less-than-honorable discharges in military upgrades applications and in veterans’ benefits appeals, among other clients, was among those who recognized that VA was relying on a regulation that reflected misguided VA policy and not Congressional intent. At the invitation of Swords to Plowshares, she and LSC joined a coalition that executed a strategy to persuade VA to change its outdated and harmful regulations. After a nearly decade of advocacy, outreach, and federal litigation, the coalition—which also included NVLSP, with pro bono counsel from Latham & Watkins, and, later, ZwillGen—prevailed when VA announced regulatory changes in April 2024 that will result in thousands more veterans receiving life-enhancing, and in some cases lifesaving, benefits.
As the coalition’s chief strategist, Montalto was motivated “by her abiding desire to alleviate the pain—physical, mental, and dignitary—far too many veterans experiences, especially those veterans who were given the scarlet letter of bad paper and who have door after door shut in their face in their times of greatest need,” according to the nomination letter.
“It has been such a privilege to fight for fairer and more just character of discharge regulations for the past decade on behalf of Swords to Plowshares, NVLSP, and the hundreds of thousands of veterans who are wrongly denied access to basic veterans benefits and services,” says Montalto. “We have had an incredible team of advocates and support from so many veterans and veterans advocacy organizations that made progress possible. I am honored to receive the Dave Myers Award for my role on this amazing team.”
About Dana Montalto, Attorney and Associate Director, Veterans Legal Clinic
Dana Montalto is an Attorney and Associate Director of the Veterans Law Clinic, where she represents low-income veterans who received less-than-honorable discharge in military discharge upgrades and federal and state veteran benefits. Dana also works on systemic reform initiatives to improve the institutions that serve our nation’s veterans, which has included authoring Underserved: How the VA Wrongfully Excludes Veterans with Bad Paper and founding the Veterans Justice Pro Bono Partnership.
Dana received her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Wellesley College and her law degree from Yale Law School, where she participated in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic and the International Refugee Assistance Project. After graduating, Dana clerked for the Honorable F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and then joined the Legal Services Center as an Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellow in 2014.
About The National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC)
The NLSVCC is a collaborative effort led by the nation’s law school legal clinics that is dedicated to addressing the unique legal needs of U.S. military veterans. The Consortium works with like-minded stakeholders to support and advance common interests with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Congress, state and local veterans service organizations, court systems, educators, and all relevant entities for the benefit of veterans throughout the country. For more information, please visit https://nlsvcc.org/
About National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP)
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) works to ensure that the government delivers to our nation’s 22 million veterans and active duty personnel the benefits to which they are entitled because of disabilities resulting from their military service to our country. NVLSP attorneys leverage their legal expertise, their advanced advocacy skills, and their extensive knowledge of the workings of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the military service departments on behalf of veterans. Since 1981, NVLSP has helped veterans obtain over five billion dollars in disability benefits that were promised to them for their service to our country. For more information, please visit https://www.nvlsp.org/
About Swords to Plowshares
Swords to Plowshares is a Bay Area-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting all veterans every step of the way for over 45 years. Swords to Plowshares’ mission is to support veterans as they navigate the challenges of post-military life, and to prevent and end veteran homelessness through wrap-around care and informed advocacy. Vets helping vets since 1974. For more information, please visit https://www.swords-to-plowshares.org/ .