University of Detroit Mercy School of Law To Establish Clinic to Assist Veterans

Detroit, March 28, 2007 - The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (UDM Law) announced today that it will establish a temporary unit within its existing Urban Law Clinic to provide legal assistance and representation to veterans seeking assistance. With this new unit, UDM Law will house the only clinical program in the Great Lakes region dedicated specifically to addressing veterans' issues.As part of this effort, the School also will begin scheduling its Mobile Law Office (MLO) to make stops at centers and other locations where veterans congregate. The School will also seek funding to create a permanent freestanding veterans clinic in order to assist veterans in a more extensive manner.

UDM Law is the only law school in the country with an MLO, a 27-foot Recreational Vehicle that has been outfitted as a law office. Through the MLO, volunteer attorneys and students in UDM's clinics counseled and/or otherwise assisted over 600 people during the past year. While the MLO has made numerous stops at senior centers, churches, and other similar facilities, with this new initiative, it will add a series of regular stops at facilities where veterans congregate.

"We have all followed the recent revelations regarding the treatment of our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan," said Mark Gordon, Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. "Whatever one's position on the wisdom of this war, there is no disagreement that our veterans deserve the best care available. With this new unit, we will be able to provide needed assistance to veterans seeking disability benefits. In addition, in coordination with our Urban Law Clinic, we will also be able to assist veterans facing certain housing problems and other similar issues."

Providing An Important Public Service

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law has significant expertise in addressing disability issues, and its Urban Law Clinic, established in 1965, was the first law school clinical program in Michigan. Most recently, the Urban Law Clinic has represented senior citizens in obtaining Social Security Disability and SSI benefits, including recovering retroactive benefits in a number of cases that brought over $20,000 per claim to seniors who had been waiting an extensive period to get a hearing.

UDM offers a wide range of clinical programs, including the Urban Law Clinic (helping seniors with disability, consumer protection, predatory lending, and identity theft issues) and the Immigration Clinic (in which students represent refugees seeking asylum). Students in the Appellate Advocacy Clinic write briefs for indigent clients on appeal (in coordination with the State Appellate Defenders Organization); students in the Mediation Clinic mediate cases in the Oakland County courts. The School recently began piloting a criminal law clinic, and will introduce an Environmental Law Clinic in the fall.

As part of the School's commitment both to serving the community and ensuring that law students receive practical training as lawyers while in school, the UDM faculty recently voted to require all UDM law students to participate in either a clinic or an externship while in law school. In order to handle the increased cases that are anticipated through the veterans unit as well as the other clinical expansions, UDM Law has committed resources to hire two additional clinical faculty members for next year. In addition, the School is seeking governmental and foundation funding to provide the funds necessary to establish the new veterans unit as a permanent freestanding clinic.

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The University of Detroit Mercy is Michigan's largest private Catholic University, offering approximately 100 majors and programs in 60 academic fields. Sponsored by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the University has three campuses located in downtown and northwest Detroit.

For the 11th consecutive year, UDM was ranked among the top tier of Midwestern master's universities in U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" – 2012 edition.

Publish date: April 26, 2007