CVLC News

Ella Bunnell Ella Bunnell is a CVLC legal intern and a second-year student at Yale Law School. She is deeply committed to social and economic justice work, and is involved in Yale Law’s Civil Rights Project, Temporary Restraining Order Project, and Election Law Society. This past summer, she was an Equal Justice America Fellow at Lawyers… Continue Reading Welcome, CVLC Interns!

Great news for 3.5 million post-9/11 veterans! The Senate passed the The PACT Act forging an easier path to compensation and care for veterans exposed to environmental toxins during service. This means more access to care for impacted veterans. Read the full story here.

CVLC is honored to receive grant funding from the Bob Woodruff Foundation to support our work addressing veteran homelessness by keeping Connecticut’s veterans safe and housed.  

Gena Gena Mann has a Masters of Science in Environmental Science focusing on Wetland Ecology and Industrial Health and Safety. She is currently finishing her law degree at UConn Law. Gena is a Retired/Veteran of the USCG and Reserve for 21+ years with multiple deployments/activations including responding to DeepWater Horizon. In her spare time Gena… Continue Reading Welcome, CVLC Summer Interns!

CVLC Staff Attorney for Veteran Benefits & Eligibility, Chelsea Donaldson, published an article in the PLI Chronicle: Insights and Perspectives for the Legal Community (May 2022) about representing clients struggling with their mental health. Read the article here!

CVLC Intake Coordinator Juliet Taylor and Staff Attorney Chelsea Donaldson filed a comment regarding the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ (VA) proposed changes to the Mental Health Rating Schedule. The comment asks that VA modify its proposed regulations in order to better serve the disabled veterans that both VA and the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center have… Continue Reading CVLC files Comment Concerning VA’s Proposed Mental Health Rating Schedule Changes

The Connecticut Bar Association has recognized two of CVLC’s attorneys for their outstanding legal work on behalf of Connecticut’s veterans. CVLC Senior Counsel, Attorney Christy Fisher, has been awarded the Charles J. Parker Legal Services Award, and Attorney Sarah E. Dlugoszewski has been awarded the Honorable Anthony V. DeMayo Pro Bono Award for pro bono… Continue Reading Congratulations Attorney Christy Fisher and Attorney Sarah E. Dlugoszewski!

Ashleigh Backman, CVLC’s current Interim Executive Director, was named Connecticut Magazine’s 40 Under 40 for her work as Director of Pro Bono, Partnerships and Development at Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. Pro bono partnerships are critical to CVLC’s mission in that they allow us to expand our reach to serve even more veterans. Read more about… Continue Reading CVLC’s Director of Pro Bono, Partnership & Development Named In Connecticut Magazine’s 40 Under 40: Class of 2022

CVLC was honored to see Attorney Chelsea Donaldson’s work with military sexual trauma survivors featured in Peggy McCarthy’s national coverage of the continuing issue of MST and its impact on our veterans. Read more here: http://c-hit.org/2021/12/09/as-congress-moves-to-change-military-sexual-assault-prosecutions-attacks-continue-to-haunt-survivors/

Last week, CVLC’s Pre-Law Fellow, Steve Kennedy, published an op-ed across HearstCT Media, including the New Haven Register and Connecticut Post, highlighting the need for continued support for veterans beyond thanking them for their service. As an Iraq veteran himself and lead plaintiff in a class action suit against the U.S. Army, Steve knows the… Continue Reading CVLC Op-Ed on Veterans’ Continuing Legal Needs Published