by Rozanna N. Geil
On a Friday afternoon in July 2024, Benjamin Swartzman, an attorney with over forty years of experience in family law and a successful practice in Encino, is on a Zoom call advising an Afghanistan-era veteran about seeking full custody of his twelve-year-old daughter after the mother abandoned her.
Every last Friday of the month, Mr. Swartzman and a dedicated cadre of family law professionals—including family law specialists, mediators, a former director of the Orange County Child Support Agency, and a retired Orange County judicial officer—volunteer their afternoon to engage in forty-five-minute virtual consultations with veterans and active service members who meet specific eligibility requirements based on income, disability, and age. Each month, fifteen to twenty veterans and active service members benefit from these uniquely tailored pro bono services through the Veterans Legal Institute Family Law Clinic.
The Veterans Legal Institute (VLI), co-founded in 2014 by Antoinette Naddour, is a rare resource in non-profit legal advocacy: an organization committed to holistically serving one of the most vulnerable and underrepresented populations in the United States—military veterans and service members. The landscape is in urgent need for such services. California is home to the largest veteran population and the largest homeless veteran population in the country, about one-third of whom are unhoused. These statistics have attracted national attention, and although federal legislation aimed at alleviating the homeless crisis has generally been considered successful, a sustained need for legal services continues at the local level.
VLI is staffed with in-house attorneys specifically trained in various areas affecting veterans’ and service members’ livelihoods, ranging from veterans’ benefits, family law, discharge upgrades, housing, consumer law, expungements, and estate planning, along with additional personalized services depending on the issues involved. Family law, the second largest practice area after veterans’ benefits, accounted for about 19.76% of all veterans and service members served in 2023.
In 2017, as demand for VLI’s in-house services grew, Ms. Naddour recognized the need for additional family services and organized a small group of legal professionals to offer targeted monthly pro bono services in a coordinated setting. David Price, a former Marine reservist during Vietnam and an Orange County family law mediator with over fifty years of experience, including serving as former president of the OCBA, recalled the early days: “In the beginning, several of us handled as many as six or seven clients during the Friday clinics, and although we were stretched a bit, the time passed quickly.” The Family Law Clinic (FLC) is now a cornerstone of VLI’s family law practice.
The purpose of the FLC is to provide comprehensive legal assistance to veterans and service members facing family law challenges, ensuring they receive the necessary support and representation to resolve their legal issues. Commissioner Richard Vogl, a well-regarded member of the Orange County Family Law community who spent twenty-six years on the Orange County bench, also an Army veteran from a military family, has been an ardent supporter of the FLC since its inception. “The average Joe in our society bumps into law most frequently in a traffic case or in a family law matter. But some of our ex-service folks are not average because they suffer from PTSD or because the stress of a family law case is just immobilizing. Being able to bring some sense to what is happening in their lives is truly rewarding,” said Commissioner Vogl.
The FLC is not an ancillary to the in-house practice group but rather a team effort. Over the years, the FLC has experienced steady growth in the number of veterans and service members requesting family law assistance. In 2020, the FLC served about 200 veterans and service members; in 2021, it served about 220; and by 2023, about 240 individuals received pro bono services annually through the clinic. In collaboration, in-house attorneys may refer clients to the FLC, while volunteer attorneys may, in turn, recommend that clients seek further limited-scope services from the in-house team. The distribution of limited resources between the volunteer attorneys and the in-house team has enabled VLI to provide access to justice with personalized services consistent with the upward demand in the area of family law.
For many volunteers, their ongoing commitment to the FLC is personally and professionally rewarding. Mr. Price recalls, “I represented several clients in court hearings in 2018 (my last court appearances), and we were able to get very good results. I love the clients who are working hard to achieve certain goals, such as getting good jobs after finishing up school under the VA education benefits.” Commissioner Vogl’s most memorable story is about a seventy-year-old veteran living with his girlfriend:
The girlfriend’s daughter made him the subject of a domestic violence restraining order by forging her mother’s name, and once he was out, she took and sold all his property, including his car (with forgery). The court dismissed the restraining order at the hearing, but he had nowhere to go as the daughter had moved into the house. At our appointment, I phoned Adult Protective Services, County of Los Angeles, and they proceeded with a phone interview that got the appropriate processes started for Elder Abuse by the daughter.
As VLI prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary with its annual Lawyers of Warriors Gala on November 15, 2024, the achievements and successes of the FLC, its volunteer attorneys, and community partners are highlighted every year. In 2022, VLI honored Jennifer Joslin, a long-serving volunteer attorney at the FLC, with the Attorney of the Year Award. In 2023, the award was conferred on Army Veteran and volunteer attorney Sam Eagle. This year’s recipient will be Rosanna E. Fristed for her advocacy on behalf of a victim of military sexual trauma. VLI is grateful to its talented volunteer attorneys for setting the industry standard in providing access to justice at the highest professional level.
Diana Garcia, the coordinator of the FLC, serves on the front lines, synchronizing volunteers and client referrals. She states, “I witness firsthand the profound impact our services have on the lives of veterans. Our dedicated team of volunteers works tirelessly to provide veterans with the legal support they need, ensuring they can navigate their family law issues with confidence and clarity. The clinic is a vital resource for our veteran community, offering not just legal advice but also a sense of empowerment and hope.”
The FLC welcomes attorneys with all levels of family law experience to participate in the monthly clinic, which is held virtually on the last Friday of every month, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Times may vary for each individual volunteer depending on the number of attorneys committed that month and the number of veterans and service members requiring services. For inquiries, please contact VLI’s Deputy Executive Director, Katie Binkley, at kbinkley@vetslegal.com.
Rozanna N. Geil is a Family Law Staff Attorney at Veterans Legal Institute. She can be reached at rgeil@vetslegal.com.