Student counseling
On November 2, 2013, a group of Chapman law students boarded a bus to San Bernardino to help provide vital legal services to low-income veterans. This project, called OneJustice Bus Project, is a collaboration between OneJustice, Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc., Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Association and Inland Empire Veterans Stand Down.

The project not only helped underserved veterans, but it also gave students the opportunity to work with real clients. Students were responsible for client interviews and intake work. “We’d find out the specifics of the situation each veteran needed help with and summarize their legal problem for one of the on-site attorneys, who would then tell us how to advise the potential client on their next steps,” said Chapman law student Jeremy Talcott. “We would then relay that to the client and answer any additional questions they might have.”

Eight Chapman law students participated in the project. They all received on-site training from the participating organizations and experienced lawyers who gave students valuable advice and mentoring.

“Of the three veterans I was privileged to speak with, I had questions about family law custody issues, consumer fraud, and application for social security disability insurance,” said Jeremy. “Each of the veterans had a very unique story to tell, and it was an honor to be able to listen to them and personally thank them for their service.”

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By the end of the day, twenty veterans had been successfully assisted with their wide range of legal issues.

“The experience was very gratifying for all of us, as it gave us an opportunity to evaluate our commitment to our communities to bring equal access to justice to those who needed it most and reminded us why we chose this profession. It was definitely an experience that I am looking forward to repeating,” said Chapman law student Blanca Valladares.

The veterans were grateful for the support of Chapman law students. One veteran revealed, “Very glad I came. Thank you.”