Talk about injustice: No group has done more to protect American values and preserve democracy than the more than 25 million living veterans of the U.S. armed services. Yet as recently as a decade ago, military vets and their families were routinely shut out of the justice system when disagreements arose over the benefits to which they’re entitled.

Congress created the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals in 1989 to develop a reliable process of judicial review for decisions made by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The majority of appeals heard by the Court involve compensation for mental and physical disabilities, pension issues, education benefits, and life insurance claims.

“There was no real availability of judicial review for veterans prior to the creation of our court,” says Kenneth Kramer, a former Colorado Congressman who serves as Chief Judge of the Court of Veterans Appeals. “The district courts can take veteran cases, but those are infrequent and far between.”

The Court was an important first step, but its creation alone could not solve the problems of most veterans appearing before it. As with any court of law, litigants’ success hinges on their ability to secure adequate counsel to press their cases. But service members relying on disability checks and pensions for sustenance could hardly be expected to pay for legal representation, leaving these onetime defenders of justice facing the prospect of no justice at all.

In 1992, representatives of four veteran service organizations—The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the National Veterans Legal Services Program, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America—met to address the issue. What emerged from their discussions was the establishment of the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium, a program pairing private attorneys with service members (and their families) who have cases pending before the appellate tribunal.

This year, the Consortium is celebrating 10 years of ensuring that former soldiers and their families receive the benefits owed to them by Uncle Sam.

“In the beginning, three quarters of the appellants did not have lawyers and did not know how to present a claim,” recalls David Isbell, a Korean War veteran and chair of the program’s executive board since its inception. “The Court was wasting a lot of time, and the appellants were not getting the benefits they would have received if they had adequate legal representation.”

Unlike traditional legal services offices—which require clients to affirmatively seek out help—the Veterans Consortium takes a proactive approach. Vets meeting income eligibility guidelines are sought out if they remain unrepresented 30 days after filing an official notice of appeal with the Court.

“For many veterans, this is their first time dealing with an attorney,” says Brian Robertson, a career Navy officer who serves as the group’s director of Case Evaluation and Placement. “Many are pleasantly surprised that attorneys are willing to put in as much time as they do.”

Since its inception, the program has trained more than 1,500 private attorneys to handle veteran appeals. “We have more volunteer attorneys than we do cases,” Isbell says. “This is a good thing.” 

The Consortium uses law firm donations and an annual grant administered by the Legal Services Corporation ($895,000 in 2001) to conduct national outreach, making presentations to interested attorneys and conducting in-depth training sessions. When a volunteer lawyer accepts a case, he or she is provided with a detailed memo outlining the key issues and is then referred to a mentor attorney, who offers advice and reviews draft filings. Throughout the entire process, Consortium leaders “monitor each case to make sure volunteer attorneys aren’t dropping the ball,” Isbell says. “The program takes these matters very seriously.”

The Consortium, which handles an average of 50 cases at any given time, has referred out more than 2,000 over the past decade. The program has proven to be extremely popular with Congress. Each year, Judge Kramer goes to Capitol Hill to submit the Court’s budget and update lawmakers on the Consortium’s needs. He is greeted warmly by legislators, who appreciate the role the court and pro bono program play in ensuring access to justice for U.S. veterans. 

In 1997, Bob Dole and George Mitchell – both former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders – teamed together to help commemorate the program’s 1,000th case. U.S. Army veteran James E. Gaddis, a Bronze Star recipient, suffered from multiple sclerosis and was seeking government help for his care, and Dole and Mitchell successfully persuaded the Veterans Court to remand the case to the VA for reconsideration.

That result, Isbell says, is typical of the Consortium’s success. “It would be hard for the court to exist without the work of our group,” he says.

Judge Kramer agrees: “Increased accessibility gives the outside world—and most importantly, the litigants themselves—the perception that justice is available. We owe it to our veterans to ensure they receive an opportunity to have their day in court.”