The New Hampshire Association for Justice (NHAJ) acknowledged Attorney Lawrence Vogelman at the organization’s annual award banquet held at the Manchester Country Club, June 6th 2017.
The NHAJ Granite State Advocate award is “…given periodically to attorneys in New Hampshire, who, in the course of zealously representing their clients, pursue and help achieve substantive changes in the law which improve our Civil Justice system, enhance the rights of citizens’ access to the courts, preserve the right of trial by jury or enhance the right of everyone to attain full, fair and timely remedies for civil wrongs.”
Appropriately named as the NHAJ 2017 Granite State Advocate, Larry Vogelman put Legal Boots on the Ground for veterans two years ago with the VFNH Veterans Law Project to provide counsel, assistance and legal referrals to needy veterans. Since 2015, the project has helped to assist almost 1000 veterans with custody, divorce, housing, employment, military, criminal and health matters. On average, about 40% of the casework is referred to a list of a few dozen pro bono attorneys who’ve committed support. About 60% of the casework is handled by Larry and volunteer staff. Among these cases, about 20% require consultation only. Vogelman is actively changing lives everyday, seeking justice for veterans with civil, criminal and military matters.
In the sphere of veterans law, altruism is essential where the top unmet needs of homeless veterans involve legal assistance for: eviction/foreclosure prevention; child support issues; outstanding warrants/fines; restoring a driver’s license, family reconciliation assistance; financial guardianship; and credit help. These are the the matters that matter– before the veteran becomes homeless, before they lose their children, before they become desperate or suicidal. Today, there are over 100 unresolved cases in queue for the unfunded law project.
Without the ability to pay staff, Larry uses his spare time to recruit and manage interns, find volunteer attorneys and handle case work for needy military families while the Veterans Foundation of NH, Inc. develops a sustainable model to support the program.
“While funding would be nice, what we really need is more pro bono attorneys who are willing to help.” said Vogelman to the NHAJ delegation when he received the award.
Credit for Attorney Vogelman’s service to veterans in this state is beyond measure where Legal Boots continues to do the work few others are willing to take on. The Veterans Foundation of NH, Inc. is “Raising the Bar for Veteran Service” with the only state-wide veteran legal program of its kind in the country.
Thanks to the NHAJ for saluting Attorney Vogelman’s work with the Veterans Law Project, a truly essential and meaningful program that establishes something in this state that gets real and to the point of what veterans need.
The Honorable Judge Leary & VFNH Director, Tara Sue Myers present the NHAJ Granite State Advocate award to Attorney Lawrence Vogelman for his work with the Veterans Law Project-Legal Boots on the Ground
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