Released 5/18/11 | Tags: Supporters
NATIONAL VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM WELCOMES EIGHT NEW BOARD MEMBERS
Advocating to help veterans, service members and their families is their passion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 18, 2011
WASHINGTON – Ensuring veterans and active-duty service members get the benefits they’ve earned and deserve requires not just goodwill – but also vigilance and advocacy. Veterans are getting a few more champions – with the addition of eight new members to the Board of Directors for the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP).
Founded in 1980, the NVLSP offers training for attorneys and other advocates and connects veterans and active duty personnel with pro bono legal help. NVLSP publishes the nation’s definitive legal guide on veterans’ benefits and represents and litigates for veterans and their families before the VA, military discharge review agencies, and federal courts. NVLSP is pleased to introduce the following new board members:
William P. Cook, of Washington, D.C., is a partner at DLA Piper LLP, where he chairs DLA Piper's Global Communications, eCommerce and Privacy Group and represents the largest telecommunications and media companies in the US. In addition to his distinguished career as an attorney, Cook is a retired Commander in the US Navy Reserves. He is a combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm, where he served on the staff of COMIDEASTFOR and as naval liaison officer to the Government of Kuwait and as naval advisor to the Kuwaiti Navy. He is also a veteran of combat contingency operations in Grenada and Lebanon and served on the Sixth Fleet Counter-Terrorism Task Force.
Doris Johnson Hines, of Washington, D.C., is a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP. She is the head of the firm’s Litigation Section and practices all aspects of patent law, with a particular focus on U.S. district court and International Trade Commission litigation. She has represented several claimants in the firm's veteran pro bono program in partnership with NVLSP. In one veteran’s case, she briefed and argued appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and successfully had the case remanded for further consideration.
Joseph Clarke Mathews, of Dallas, Texas, is a partner at Hunton & Williams LLP. His practice focuses on a wide variety of corporate transactions, including debt financing transactions, asset securitizations, private placed equity financings, structured finance transactions and credit enhancement transactions. Mathews has been involved with NVLSP's Lawyers Serving Warriors program, where he has represented several veterans seeking benefits they were wrongfully denied.
Randal S. Milch, of New York, N.Y., is the executive vice president and general counsel for Verizon Communications. He leads the company’s legal, regulatory and security groups. Milch has involved dozens of attorneys at Verizon in assisting veterans through NVLSP’s Lawyers Serving Warriors program. They recently piloted a new program to assist Iraq and Afghanistan veterans applying for combat related special compensation, which many veterans of today’s wars are not receiving even though they qualify.
Edward A. “Ned” Powell, Jr., of Washington, D.C., is a former president and CEO for USO World Headquarters. He is a former Assistant Secretary for Management (CFO) and Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Because of his leadership and commitment to the Armed Forces for many years, Powell was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, by Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter, and Secretary of the Army Peter Geren, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff’s Distinguished Public Service Award by Admiral Michael Mullen, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by Secretary Robert Gates.
Thomas Riley, of New York, N.Y., is a partner at Chadbourne & Parke LLP where he heads the firm’s litigation department. He has more than 25 years of experience in the products liability field. He volunteers as a pro-bono counsel with NVLSP representing veterans seeking disability pension benefits. Most recently, he assisted NVLSP with filing legal motions to ensure the VA complied with regulations to compensate Vietnam veterans suffering from diseases medically linked to Agent Orange exposure during their military service.
Amy Schuh, of Palo Alto, Ca., is the Legal/GA Chief of Staff and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Legal Strategy and Operations at Hewlett-Packard Company. She co-chairs HP’s legal pro-bono program, which recently partnered with NVLSP to provide pro-bono counsel to thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder as they filled out paperwork to upgrade their benefits as part of a class action lawsuit, Sabo v. United States.
Howard M. Shapiro, of Washington, D.C., is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. He chairs the firm’s Litigation/Controversy Department. His legal practice is focused largely on white collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation and securities enforcement matters. Shapiro and several attorneys at the firm have assisted veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who needed pro-bono legal help with the complicated paperwork involving military retirement and VA claims. He is excited about doing more to help our nation’s veterans and their families.
About NVLSP
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is an independent, nonprofit veterans’ service organization that has assisted active duty military personnel and veterans since 1980. For more information, go to www.nvlsp.org.
Press/Media Interview Requests
Press and media interview requests should be directed to Ami Neiberger-Miller, ami@steppingstonellc.com.
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