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Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L
38
JANUARY 2017
HOW YOU CAN SERVE THOSE WHO SERVED
Not Just JAG
By Edward M. Farmer
S
ince September 11, 2001, hundreds
of thousands of service members in
the Reserves and National Guard
have been called to active duty to fight
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations
throughout the world. When these service
members are called to duty, they must
leave their civilian lives behind, pick up
a weapon, and go serve where Uncle Sam
instructs. You may be under the impres-
sion that the military’s lawyers, the Judge
Advocate General Corps, handle the legal
needs of these service members. However,
this could not be further from the truth.
Civilian attorneys are often in the best
position to handle the legal issues that
affect National Guard and Reserve mem-
bers. In fact, the legal issues of veterans
and service members span many legal
areas, including: employment law, land-
lord-tenant issues, consumer collections,
contract law, social security, and other
civil litigation. With tens of thousands of
Reservists and National Guard members
in the Chicagoland area, you may already
have a client with a legal issue unique to
the citizen soldier.
Consider if your client, PFC Brown, is
a member of Army National Guard and is
being deployed to Iraq for a year. She asks
you to help put her affairs in order before
she leaves next week. The scenarios below
involving PFC Brown illustrate that no
matter what area of law you practice, a
National Guard or Reserve member may
be in need of your services.
Landlord-Tenant Issues
PFC Brown recently signed a lease for a new
apartment. She will be deployed before the
lease is up. Will she be able to get out of the
lease? What if she cannot afford the rent and
the landlord begins eviction proceedings?
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
(“SCRA”) includes a “military orders