about nvlsp

A History of Veterans Advocacy

One of NVLSP’s first battles was to assist soldiers with “bad paper” – those who emerged from the military without fully honorable discharge. Many received this discharge status unfairly, and were handicapped in pursuing careers, building families, and gaining access to veterans’ benefits.

NVLSP’s litigation and policy work led to upgrades in the discharges of thousands of deserving veterans - making it easier for them to get good jobs and lead productive lives - and left in place a fairer system to adjudicate similar cases in the future.

Beginning in the 1980s, NVLSP channeled its efforts to help disabled veterans who had applied to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for disability compensation and health care, but whose claims had been unfairly denied. Great Depression-era legislation was preventing claimants who had been denied VA benefits from appealing the decision to a court of law. Despite its obvious unfairness, this restriction from court review remained in force for more than five decades.

Fortunately, the VA no longer operates beyond the reach of the law.

The reform of the VA benefits system began with the enactment of the Veterans’ Judicial Review Act of 1988, allowing veterans to appeal to a newly created U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The NVLSP staff was instrumental in getting this landmark legislation passed.

To bolster the success of this new system, NVLSP worked to ensure that veterans could secure representation on appeal. NVLSP has been in the forefront of creating a safety net for veterans who have been unable to obtain an advocate.

We continue to see progress through ongoing recruitment, training, and publishing of advocacy materials for thousands of volunteer attorneys and lay advocates who represent veterans – free of charge - before the Court and the VA.