Released 11/3/11 | Tags: Supporters
LAWYERS HELPING WARRIORS: NOVEMBER 9th NVLSP BENEFIT RECEPTION HIGHLIGHTS INJURED WAR VETS, RECOGNIZES LAWYERS AND ADVOCATES AIDING VETERANS
Jim McKay, leading DC attorney, to receive Senator Daniel Inouye Award for work helping veterans
Military Order of the Purple Heart to receive Outstanding Public Service Award
Hunton and Williams, LLP to be recognized with Pro Bono Partner of the Year Award
Judy Woodruff, PBS Newshour senior correspondent, to emcee evening program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 3, 2011
WASHINGTON – Veterans advocates today face hefty caseloads, cumbersome bureaucracies and backbreaking paperwork, as they battle to help America’s veterans and military service members get the benefits and healthcare their government owes them.
The “Serving Those Who Serve Us” reception benefiting the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Capital Hilton, located at 1001 16th Street NW. Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent for PBS Newshour, will preside at the event.
NVLSP will recognize on November 9th two exceptional Iraq war veterans, who survived horrific injuries, only to face a struggle for the benefits their country owed them. Aided by NVLSP, both veterans are now slated to receive the maximum benefits allowed by law for their service to our country.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MoPH) will be recognized with the Outstanding Public Service Award. For 18 years, NVLSP has worked alongside MoPH to train service officers providing free representation to veterans in VA regional offices and communities throughout the United States.
Special guest, The Honorable Lanny A. Breuer, will present the Senator Daniel Inouye Award to Jim McKay, senior counsel at Covington and Burling. Well-known in the D.C. legal community today for his work as an attorney, McKay is also a World War II combat veteran, who served on two submarine chasers in the Atlantic and was the commanding officer of a patrol craft operating in the Mediterranean. He has personally handled 24 pro bono legal cases for veterans before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Hunton and Williams, LLP, will be recognized with the Pro Bono Partner of the Year award. The firm has participated in NVLSP’s Lawyers Serving Warriors program since it began in 2008. By 2011, the firm’s attorneys had taken on representation of nearly 60 veterans on multiple claims. The firm also initiated a project with NVLSP to redress injustices in military separations before the Boards for Correction of Military Records and the new Physical Disability Board of Review.
This is the third year the benefit reception has been held.
** MEDIA COVERAGE INVITED **
WHO: National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP)
WHAT: “Serving Those Who Serve Us” Benefit Reception
WHEN: Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW
WHY: Veterans advocates and lawyers aiding veterans will be recognized, and two Iraq war veterans aided by NVLSP in their fight to obtain benefits will be highlighted.
PRESS/MEDIA INTERVIEW REQUESTS
Credentialed media are welcome to attend the reception for free. Press and media interview requests should be directed to Ami Neiberger-Miller, ami@steppingstonellc.com.
ABOUT NVLSP
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is an independent, nonprofit veterans’ service organization that has served active duty military personnel and veterans since 1980. NVLSP strives to ensure that our nation honors its commitment to its 25 million veterans and active duty personnel by providing them the federal benefits they have earned through their service to our country. NVSLP offers training for attorneys and other advocates, connects veterans and active duty personnel with pro bono legal help, publishes the nation’s definitive guide on veterans’ benefits, and represents and litigates for veterans and their families before the VA, military discharge review agencies and federal courts. For more information go to www.nvlsp.org
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