<div style="float: right; width: 33%; padding: 5px;"><img src="irl://1177//" alt="" width="95%" />
<p><em>Emeritus Professor Tom Reed and student Lindsey Procida assist a veteran.</em></p>
</div>
<p>A new public service project that helps disabled veterans get their legal questions answered also gives law students a valuable opportunity to build professional skills and learn more about veterans law.</p>
<p>Through the &ldquo;Military Mondays&rdquo; program, <a href="ipl://128//W10=">Veterans Law Clinic</a> staff attorneys and student interns conduct sit-down meetings with veterans in need of advice, at no cost. Using space provided by Starbucks, school attorneys and students answer veterans&rsquo; questions about their claims for benefits through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.</p>
<p>The program began operating one Monday a month this fall out of a Starbucks in the Wilmington Nemours Building.</p>
<p>&ldquo;A lot of times the VA system is overwhelming,&rdquo; student Lindsey Procida said. &ldquo;They get these pieces of paper and they read them and don&rsquo;t know what to do.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Procida and fellow student Mike Routh volunteered to help staff the first Military Mondays event, with Veterans Law Clinic Director <a href="ipl://20//WyIyMDUiXQ==">Amber Baylor</a> and Emeritus Professor <a href="ipl://20//WyIxOTciXQ==">Thomas J. Reed</a>. Both students are interns in the Veterans Law Clinic. Procida helped organize the appointments for the program and she sat alongside Reed for four meetings.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was nice to get that face to face,&rdquo; she said of the experience, adding she learned a lot from hearing Reed&rsquo;s thought processes and explanations of how the VA operates.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Routh said he felt good that the Military Mondays event was able to provide a lot information veterans needed. He wished the clinic could take on some of the veterans as clients, but Military Mondays is about dispensing advice and information in a casual atmosphere outside of a formal client relationship.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was a good experience,&rdquo; said Routh, who is studying law as new professional path, after a career trading futures. His said his work in the Veterans Law Clinic has been a valuable experience.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I never knew this branch of law existed. It&rsquo;s been a real eye opener in a big way,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>The next Military Mondays events will be held Nov. 14 and Dec. 5. All meetings are by appointment between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Appointments can be made by contacting Denise Paul, office manager of the Veterans Law Clinic, at 302.477.2056 or <a href="mailto:dmpaul@widener.edu">dmpaul@widener.edu</a>.</p>