Connecticut Veterans Legal Center Celebrates Pro Bono Partnerships Removing Legal Barriers to Housing, Healthcare, and Income for Connecticut’s Veterans

New Haven, CT (November 12, 2021) – Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) hosted its annual Saluting Service benefit to celebrate veteran legal victories and to showcase the important work of CVLC’s pro bono partnerships with leading law firms across the country. These pro bono partnerships are force multipliers advancing advocacy on behalf of veterans facing legal barriers to housing, healthcare and income.

As Connecticut continues to grapple with housing insecurity and the financial fallout from COVID-19, our veterans are facing these same challenges as they navigate the return to civilian life or are balancing mental health struggles, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or military sexual trauma. Access to legal aid has never been more critical.

Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Robinson highlighted the importance of pro bono legal service to bridge the access to justice gap for veterans and their families facing homelessness.

Army Veteran, Steve Kennedy, one of two named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 50,000 veterans denied honorable discharges by the Army Discharge Review Board, spoke about the lasting impact of Kennedy v. McCarthy on Afghanistan-era Army veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and the overall treatment of veteran mental health.

Nationally recognized law firm, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, was presented with the 20210 Veteran Justice Award for their unwavering pro bono legal service on behalf of Connecticut’s indigent veterans and their families facing immediate homelessness through the eviction process.

As the only law firm with offices and attorneys in all 50 states, Gordon & Rees delivers maximum value to its clients by combining the resources of a full-service national firm with the local knowledge of a regional firm. The firm is currently ranked among the 25 largest law firms in the U.S., the top 55 firms for diverse attorneys, and the top 25 firms for female attorneys in the AmLaw 100.

Particularly during the pandemic, the firm’s Hartford office zealously fought on behalf of veterans living in unsafe living conditions and on behalf of those illegally locked out of their apartments by landlords, despite the state and federal eviction moratorium. By keeping veterans and their families safely housed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pro bono attorneys were literally saving lives. Since the eviction moratoriums were lifted, pro bono attorneys have continued to provide critical legal representation to combat the tsunami of summary process filings flooding housing court.

Saluting Service was held virtually on Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11^th at 6:00pm. The event helped to fund operations as the demand for free legal representation continues to grow, and CVLC remains incredibly grateful to individuals including Judy Udell and the Udell Family, Sikorsky Lockheed-Martin Company, David Rosen and Associates, McCarter and English LLP, and Deep Hollow Farm, for their headline sponsorship in support of CVLC’s legal mission.

To celebrate veteran victories, access to justice on behalf of veterans, and pro bono support please visit https://ctveteranslegal.org/