When Duty Calls

"When Duty Calls" is a phrase that refers to the service provided by the brave members of America's Armed Services. Each day, they defend our freedoms.

At Womble Carlyle, a law firm with a tradition of supporting America's men and women in the military, When Duty Calls is a project that provides military veterans with pro bono legal assistance in the initial stages of disability claims filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The program recruits and trains licensed attorneys (and supervised paraprofessionals, legal support staff, and law students) on the detailed process of preparing and submitting veteran disability claims, and in turn helps attorneys to conduct clinics to assist veterans in preparing their disability claims.

The first clinic was held in North Carolina in July 2007, in partnership with the Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association. Womble Carlyle hosted the second clinic in its Washington, DC office in response to the overwhelming success of its first free clinic in North Carolina.

Spearheaded by Womble Carlyle attorney Tripp Greason, the firm expanded the program to include a retired health claims rating advisor and an experienced health specialist to help review participating veterans' health claims applications onsite.  In Fall 2007, the project earned the American Bar Association's Service to the Public Award. 

In 2008, When Duty Calls training sessions and clinics were held in the firm's Atlanta, Charlotte, Greenville, SC and Winston-Salem offices.

In 2010, the firm is conducting the program in all of the firm's 11 offices (June 4). Click here for more information.

Previous events included the following:

• A When Duty Calls training session held at Duke Law School as a first step toward a free veterans legal clinic at the law school. 
• A training session in Washington, DC for 21 law firms and over 100 lawyers in conjunction with the DC Pro Bono Council. The law firms provided pro bono assistance to veterans in filing initial claims. 
• A Winston-Salem training session and clinic which included students from Wake Forest Law and Elon Law Schools. 
• Presentations on When Duty Calls at the 18th Annual Festival of Legal Learning at UNC Chapel Hill Law School.