Steven Schulman, Thomas Yang Interviewed by CCBJ on Pro Bono Partnership Helping Vets

Akin Gump pro bono partner Steven Schulman and corporate partner Thomas Yang have been interviewed, along with Tamera Woodard from AT&T, by Corporate Counsel Business Journal, the resulting article titled “Pro Bono Partnership Helps Vets Fix Wrongful Discharges.”

The article discusses how a partnership between Akin Gump and AT&T is supporting a fellowship, through Equal Justice Works, for Danica Gonzalves at the Veterans Consortium that focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in cases of “other than honorable” discharges from the military.

Among the topics discussed:

• The origin of the collaboration: “We’re always looking for ways to partner with key clients on things like this that help the community. So when AT&T reached out, looking for a co-sponsor for an Equal Justice Works Fellow, we viewed it as a great opportunity to both help the community and expand our relationships with AT&T.” (Yang)
• The Equal Justice Works experience: “I’ve worked with Equal Justice Works for almost 20 years, and it’s rewarding seeing people that we selected as fellows years ago now out there in leadership roles…[A]pplicants are required to develop projects that will fill a gap in legal services. It therefore attracts people who are ambitious and insightful and who exhibit leadership qualities from an early point in their careers.” (Schulman)
• The impact of a wrongful discharge: “You have a situation where someone goes into the military, suffers trauma from his or her service in the military and is ultimately given an Other Than Honorable discharge due to that trauma. As a result, the veteran is denied medical benefits to treat the very illness that was caused by his or her service. That certainly seemed to be an unfair and unjust situation that we all felt compelled to help rectify.” (Yang)
• How to get involved in pro bono work: “We would recommend that law departments partner with somebody who’s done it before, who has a pro bono practice or experience working with an organization like an Equal Justice Works. That can give a law department a measure of comfort in moving forward. If possible, do a co-sponsorship like we’re doing with AT&T that would allow you to work closely with a law firm.” (Schulman)

To read the full interview, please click here.