The City Bar Justice Center Holds Its 8th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast and Ethics CLE

On November 10, 2023, the City Bar Justice Center hosted its 8th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast and Ethics CLE to support the work of the Veterans Assistance Project (VAP), celebrating its 16th year of service. This special event each year honors our dedicated staff, pro bono volunteers who provide exceptional legal services, and most importantly, our clients – New York veterans who served our country.  

Breaking a fundraising record, raising nearly $60,000, over 50 pro bono attorneys and partners attended the “Ethics of Representing Veterans & Survivors Before the Department of Veterans Affairs” hybrid program led by Makedah Salmond, Director of VAP. The ethics CLE training explored the complex intersection of legal, moral, and professional considerations that attorneys must navigate when advocating for veterans before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

Through VAP’s partnership with 50 law firms and corporate legal departments, and over 390 trained pro bono attorneys, the project has provided counsel and representation to over 3,000 veterans and secured more than $8.9 million in retroactive benefits in recent years. As of June 2023, approximately 302,175 claims for VA disability compensation and pension are backlogged and will not be addressed until late 2024. In light of this great need for legal assistance and VAP’s commitment to narrowing the justice gap, we look forward to collaborating with additional volunteers and other pro bono and community partners to address the evolving needs of our clients and further our impact.  

A special thank you to our 2023 Veterans Day event sponsors for their continued support! 

 $5,000 level sponsors 

• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 
• Kirkland & Ellis 
• Proskauer Rose LLP 
• Sidley Austin LLP 
• UBS 

 $2,500 level sponsors                                 

• AIG 
• Bloomberg 
• Chubb 
• Covington & Burling LLP 
• Cravath 
• Duane Morris 
• Holland & Knight 
• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP 
• Labaton Sucharow LLP 
• Mizuho Group 
• Morgan Stanley 
• Ropes & Gray LLP 
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP 

 $1,000 level sponsors 

• DLA Piper 
• Seyfarth Shaw LLP