Each year, thousands of veterans return to civilian life carrying the lasting effects of their military service. While many transition successfully, others face significant physical, psychological, and financial challenges that can persist long after they leave active duty. For many, these hardships are compounded by complex legal and administrative barriers that make it difficult to access the benefits, health care, and other resources they have earned through their service. This summer, Proskauer kicked off a new pro bono initiative across all U.S. offices focused on serving veterans. From navigating the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits system to seeking discharge upgrades or appealing adverse benefits determinations, legal representation can play a critical role in helping veterans secure the support they deserve.
Proskauer Secures Landmark Settlement with New York State to Expand Access to Children’s Mental Health Services
A Proskauer team, along with Disability Rights New York (DRNY), Children’s Rights (CR) and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), reached a preliminary settlement agreement with the State of New York in C.K. v. McDonald, a federal class action lawsuit addressing the State’s failure to provide Medicaid-eligible children with intensive home-and community-based mental health services.
Pro Bono Work and the Impact of Growing Inequality
Pro bono work regularly makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives, whether by securing a favorable outcome for an individual or resolving a class action case affecting thousands. While it’s important to recognize and support pro bono efforts in and of themselves, we also need to be able to take a
For Good Spotlight: Beyond Kids Reading
Proskauer performs pro bono work for a number of innovative and impactful nonprofit organizations, including Beyond Kids Reading (BKR). This week we had the privilege of speaking with BKR’s founder Dr. Craig N. Horning.
Discharge Upgrades Bring Much-Needed Closure to Nation’s Veterans
When a veteran is discharged from the armed forces, they begin the transition to civilian life. However, the type of discharge received can have far-reaching consequences for veterans as the stigma of an “Other Than Honorable” discharge follows veterans throughout their lives and limits the federal benefits they can receive. Proskauer is actively involved in helping veterans upgrade their discharge status, when they have been unfairly denied benefits due to an improper classification.
Pro Bono as Ikigai: Finding Your Purpose through Public Service
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month and Well-Being Week in Law, Proskauer’s Senior Manager of Wellness, Tracey Saliski, brought Brianne Gallo and me together for a discussion about finding purpose in life and work through participation in public service at Proskauer. It was a privilege to present on this
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against New York State for Failure to Provide Legally Required Mental Health Services to Medicaid-Eligible Children
Proskauer, in conjunction with attorneys from Children’s Rights, Disability Rights New York, and the National Health Law Program, have filed a class action lawsuit against New York officials in response to the mental health crisis arising from New York’s failure to provide, in sufficient quantity, frequency, and
Taking Action for Families Separated at the Border
An anxious mother, detained in a separate facility from her son, is informed that authorities had lost track of him. A devastated father is deported without his child. A crying child is ripped from his father’s arms and put into a cage-like metal cell. These Proskauer clients – all escaping violence in Central America – suffered those horrors not in their home countries but in the country where they sought asylum, in the United States.
Beginning in 2017 as a pilot project, the U.S. government began splitting thousands of families in an effort to deter immigration across the southern border. The practice became official in 2018 through the government’s “zero tolerance” policy which called for the detention and prosecution of all individuals – including those seeking asylum – who crossed the border anywhere other than an official port of entry.
While national outrage prompted an official end to the policy, the government did not stop, and to this day continues to separate families. In total, over 5,500 children have been separated from their parents since 2017, at least 1,100 of whom were separated after the policy officially ended. Tragically, the parents of 666 separated children still have not been found.