Current Openings

Background: The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is a high-impact national nonprofit veterans service organization based in Arlington, VA. Established in 1981, NVLSP’s mission is to ensure that the government delivers to our nation’s veterans, active-duty personnel and their families the benefits which they have earned due to the disabilities that resulted from their military service.

NVLSP’s Lawyers Serving Warriors® (“LSW”) program provides pro bono legal representation, through a nationwide pro bono network of private law firms and corporate legal departments, to disabled active duty personnel and veterans and their families. LSW assists over 600 disabled veterans per year through its pro bono network. The majority of the clients served through LSW have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injuries, or other mental health conditions that are related to military service.

Responsibilities: NVLSP’s LSW Team seeks a fellow to work on discharge upgrade, medical retirement, and/or Combat-Relation Special Compensation. The externally-funded fellowship would potentially include impact litigation, administrative cases and remote clinics under either the Equal Justice Works Fellowship or the Skadden Foundation Fellowship. The fellowship will begin in the fall of 2027. The applicant must expect to receive a J.D. by the spring of 2027.

LSW’s discharge upgrade program helps veterans apply to the Department of Defense to upgrade their characterization of service from “Other Than Honorable” (OTH) to a more favorable characterization such as Honorable. The discharge upgrade may help veterans receive VA benefits and health care, improve employment opportunities, and restore reputation and self-esteem.

Medical retirement is completely separate from VA disability benefits. One of the primary benefits from a medical retirement is military medical care, Tricare, for the veteran, their spouse, and the veteran’s dependent children. Tricare provides comprehensive health care, including prescription drugs, in civilian health care networks wherever the veteran resides, separate from the VA healthcare system. Medical retirement also confers eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation, an additional tax-free monthly benefit for disabilities resulting from combat. Without a retirement, veterans are unable to access the benefits for physical and mental health conditions stemming from combat.

The position is remote in any of the NVLSP approved work locations. Those locations are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (excluding Chicago), Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York (excluding New York City), North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.