Military veterans who need legal help now have a place to turn that’s geared to their specific needs.
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid has opened a Veterans Legal Services for low-income military veterans at 126 W. Adams Street.
Legal Aid CEO Jim Kowalski told WJCT News veterans deserve help with their legal problems.
“And we know with our veteran population that civil issues in housing, in consumer and in family law predominate. And those folks often can’t afford an attorney on their own, even if they have income,” said Kowalski.
Attorneys can charge $200 to $300 dollars an hour to work on a civil case and cases involving veterans can be far from simple.
“Issues with VA home loan foreclosures are much more complicated than issues for normal foreclosures since you automatically have a federal government agency involved in the foreclosure action,” said Veterans Services attorney Declan Duffy.
Studies conducted by the Veterans Administration demonstrated the high rate of legal issues for veterans. Five of the top 10 unmet needs for male homeless veterans require civil legal assistance, and for female homeless veterans that figure is 4 of the top 10, according to information provided by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.
Legal aid for veterans on the First Coast is funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.
More information about the services available to veterans is on the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid website or by phone at 904-356-8371.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter at @cydwjctnews.
