The City Bar Justice Center Holds Its 9th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast and Ethics CLE

On November 13, 2024, the City Bar Justice Center hosted its 9th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast and Ethics CLE to support the work of the Veterans Assistance Project (VAP), celebrating its 17th year of service. Each year, this special event honors our dedicated staff and pro bono volunteers—who provide exceptional legal services for our clients—and most importantly, those clients, New York City veterans. 

The Veterans Assistance Project provides veterans living at or below poverty level in New York City with pro bono legal assistance on claims for disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VAP team partners with over 460 trained pro bono attorneys from 50 law firms and corporate legal departments. In recent years, the project has provided counsel and representation to over 3,000 veterans and secured approximately $9.1 million in retroactive benefits, in addition to more than $280,000 in ongoing benefits.  

More than 50 volunteer attorneys attended the CLE “Ethics of Representing Veterans & Survivors Before the Department of Veterans Affairs” CLE. The hybrid program, led by Makedah Salmond, Director of VAP, explored the complex intersection of legal, moral, and professional considerations that attorneys must navigate when advocating for veterans before the VA.  

In addition to being a compelling CLE event and networking opportunity, the event raised a record-breaking $63,000 for VAP! Thank you to our 2024 event sponsors for their continued support. 

Sponsors 

 $7,500 level sponsors 

• Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP  
• Sidley Austin 

 $5,000 level sponsors 

• Kirkland & Ellis 
• Proskauer 

 $2,500 level sponsors 

• AIG 
• Bloomberg 
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft 
• Chubb Group 
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 
• Covington & Burling 
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore 
• Duane Morris 
• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel 
• Labaton Keller Sucharow 
• Mizuho Group 
• Morgan Stanley 
• Ropes & Gray 
• Seyfarth Shaw 
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom