How We Help
The Veterans Law Unit represents veterans and their family members when they cannot afford an attorney; we strive to help veterans and their families attain the maximum degree of stability and financial well being. We also provide legal education trainings to community groups and service providers on topics relevant to veterans. If you are interested in receiving or hosting a training, please contact us.
For more information, view our Veterans Legal Clinic Brochure.
- Federal Veterans’ Benefit Cases – Appeals at all levels in Federal Veterans’ Benefit cases (including Service-Connected Disability Compensation Benefits, VA Pension, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Benefits)
- Massachusetts Veterans’ Services Benefits cases (Chapter 115 cases) – Appeals at all levels
- Access to VA Healthcare and other healthcare resources
- Discharge Upgrades and Correction of Military Records
- Estate Planning– including wills, health care proxies, funeral planning directives, living wills/medical directives, and special needs trusts, guardianships and conservatorships, and VA Fiduciary appointments
Eligibility
Service Area: We primarily represent clients who live in Greater Boston. When unique or particularly important legal issues are at stake, we will also consider cases from outside our primary geographic service area and cases involving the representation of organizational clients.
Financial Eligibility: Our focus is on helping veterans and family members who otherwise do not have access to attorney representation. We therefore screen clients for financial eligibility and consider a variety of factors, including the client’s income, assets, and expenses, and the potential availability of alternative representation.
Our decision to accept a case for representation depends on a number of factors, including the legal merits of the case, the client’s financial circumstances, and our available resources.
Apply for Assistance
Prospective clients can apply for representation from the Veterans Law Unit by calling (617) 390-2525, or
visit the Veterans Legal Clinic during regular business hours. If an attorney or law student intern is unable to meet with you upon your arrival, you will receive an appointment for the next available intake slot that day or on another day. You can find information about our hours and how to find our office on the Contact & Directions page of our website.
Additional Resources
The Veterans Law Unit is the primary vehicle through which LSC serves the legal needs of veterans. The Veterans Law Unit, however, is not the only way LSC helps veterans who have unmet legal needs. Four other LSC projects focus either exclusively or substantially on representing veterans. These are:
- Federal Tax Clinic
- The Project on Predatory Student Lending
- The Safety Net Project
- The Veterans Enterprise Initiative
We encourage you to click on the links for these projects to learn more about these areas of law and LSC’s commitment to meeting the legal needs of veterans.
Our Team
- Daniel Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law
- Destini Agüero, Attorney and Clinical Instructor
- Betsy Gwin, Attorney, Associate Director, and DAV Charitable Service Trust Fellow
- Margaret Kuzma, Attorney
- Dana Montalto, Attorney and Clinical Instructor
- Jack Regan, Senior Fellow
We are grateful to the DAV Charitable Service Trust for its generous support of our legal services program for disabled veterans.