In November 2024, the City Bar Justice Center, which provides New York City residents with pro bono civil legal counsel, held its 9th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast and Ethics Continuing Legal Education (CLE) event. The center hosts the event each year as a way of supporting the Veterans Assistance Project (VAP), which reaches out to veterans living at or below the local poverty level.
The VAP team engages with more than 50 law firms and corporate legal departments in the community, and around 460 attorneys contribute pro bono services that focus on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ disability benefits claims. Engaging with more than 3,000 veterans in the past few years, VAP volunteers have helped applicants receive ongoing benefits totaling $280,000 and retroactive benefits totaling $9.1 million.
The well attended event brought together 50 volunteer attorneys for a CLE program on the topic “Ethics of Representing Veterans & Survivors Before the Department of Veterans Affairs.” This networking and educational opportunity also served as a fundraiser, adding another $63,000 to the Veterans Assistance Project coffers.
Dyan Gershman 
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