Attention Veterans, Attorneys and Veterans Service Officers:

Project SALUTE will be in Raleigh, North Carolina Monday October 27 through Wednesday October 29th, to  assist veterans in need of free legal aid and to train attorneys in this critical area of law.  

Hosted by the Veterans Foundation of North Carolina, Veterans Law Project, Project Salute provides Veterans Federal Benefits information and Individual Benefits Interviews to veterans and military families.  The Project SALUTE team is honored to provide free legal aid to low-income Veterans by conducting training seminars for pro bono attorneys and service officers.   

If you are a veteran in need of assistance in North Carolina, Individual benefits interviews will be conducted on a first come first served basis.   General information sessions will run all day.

All first-time disability claims shall be referred to veteran service officers only.   Denied claims, to be appealed, are referred to pro bono attorneys who attend the training.

If you are  a veteran in need or an attorney wishing to assist these citizens, then join us for this program.  Registration, Details and travel information are provided below:

Raleigh, North Carolina
October 27-29, 2008

Veterans Federal Benefits Information Session & Individual Benefits Interviews*:
Monday & Tuesday, October 27-28, 2008
Location: VFW Department of North Carolina
917 New Bern Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27611
919-828-5058
Time:10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Map/Driving Directions

Attorney Training: Wednesday, October 29
Location: DLA Piper US LLP
4141 Parklake Avenue Suite 300
Raleigh, NC
Time: 8:30 am - 5 pm
Register Online
Map/Driving Directions

Project SALUTE is a mobile veterans legal clinic providing individual counseling for Veterans seeking assistance with federal disability and pension benefits matters and training for pro bono attorneys agreeing to represent a Veteran, free of charge, with a disability or pension benefits issue.

 "We are always in need of assistance in getting the word out to the Veterans on how to find Project SALUTE in their area and volunteer help at each event itself.  We ask military service providers to assist in seeing clients as well as practicing Veterans Law attorneys in effort to serve as many Veterans as possible during the Project SALUTE events.  "

If you are a veteran in need of service, or an attorney inspired to perform charity, email the veteranslawproject at gmail.com

We salute Tammy and her supporters for this outstanding effort put forth to benefit our military families and assist in fighting this epidemic of abuse towards those who have honorably served.

We'll have more on this fantastic service soon!

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) has provided
the following website for veterans to gain access to their
DD-214's online: http://vetrecs.archives.gov/      This may
be particularly helpful when a veteran needs a copy of his
DD-214 for employment purposes.  NPRC is working to make it
easier for veterans with computers and Internet access to
obtain copies of documents from their military files.
Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former
military members may now use a new onlinemilitary personnel
records system to request documents.  Other individuals
with a need for documents must still complete the Standard
Form 180, which can be downloaded from the online web site.
Because the requester will be asked to supply all
information essential for NPRC to process the request,
delays that normally occur when NPRC has to ask veterans
for additional information will be minimized.  The new
web-based application was designed to provide better
service on these requests by eliminating the records
centers mailroom and processing time.

Google "va health care system" and at the top is "Request Rejected."   This seems to be a common response from the VA to service men and women searching for help.  But the Veterans Administration cannot be blamed for  all shortcomings.  It is the responsibility of citizens everywhere to take a roll in assisting our military families.

 

Congratulations to Craig Kabatchnick and the North Carolina Central University Law School.  Recently Craig was made a professor for the Veterans Law Clinic student programs to service military families. 

"The clinic is booming" says Kabatchnick who started as the supervising attorney at the Veterans Law Clinic. last year  Now, as a professor he can service the students and veterans in need of legal support in a greater capacity as a university staff member. 

This is an excellent example of how law schools can step up to provide pro bono services to their community of military families, making it easier for lawyers to assist in the education process.

NCCU has a wealth of clinical services, but the Veterans Law Clinic fulfills a need never met before.  Veterans and military families are finding the help they need while students receive a unique, hands on education.

If you are a professor or staff member at your local law school, contact the Veterans Law Project to  join our board and engage your university in clinical programs to benefit military families and law students.

If you are a member of a military family, active or veteran and need legal assistance, contact the Veterans Law Project  for possible assistance.

"Concerned that injured soldiers are getting a raw deal upon returning home, three firms — Foley & Lardner; Atlanta's King & Spalding; and New York's LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae — have offered to do pro bono work on behalf of veterans who are appealing low disability ratings made by the government."  BigLaw Firms Unite in Pro Bono Effort for Wounded Soldiers  New York Lawyer  June 19, 2007  By Tresa Baldas  The National Law Journal

As stated in the linked article, a lot of lawyers are coming into this with very little background, reinforcing the need for education based clinics, which could of course serve law students as well as lawyers.

There is a legitimate concern that legal efforts on behalf of veterans may result in a new cottage industry for attorneys.  It is understood that despite congressional efforts, the veterans benefits and entitlements process is adversarial.  Still, some approaches to resolve veterans legal issue are likely to perpetuate the adversarial system.

Pro-bono law clinics are a great advantage to both the civilian community, military families and students.  But it is clear that some attorneys may wish to be paid fees for services, deducted from the veteran's entitlement.  Furthermore it is clear that veterans are entitled to representation...in adversarial and non adversarial cases.  It is their civil right to representation.  Strange that those charged with crimes are entitled to an attorney free of charge.  Why not share such entitlement with veterans in a manner that may result in ongoing improvement of the discharge process and veterans assumption of benefits and entitlements?

What if enlistees could learn to advocate for their fellow soldiers and sailors who have been discharged?  This may bridge the DoD and the Veterans Affairs so that they may work in sync to improve (1)  The collection and maintenance of medical records from enlistment to discharge  (2)  Provide an additional pathway to solvency for the appeals process  (3)  Lend opportunity to enlistees to acquire a new and needed skill to serve our country  (4)  Seek improved protocols to serve our military families (5) and track service related harms and injuries.

Following is an approach that may both resolve the need for veterans legal assistance while providing a less adversarial approach to representation:  We would like to explore the possibility of the DoD installing an additional Military Occupational Specialty or function of the General Counsel to serve veterans as trained attorneys or advocates.  Such installment could result in a better understanding and greater efficiency for veterans and the VA and could benefit from the established network of veterans service organizations.

Furthermore, with todays technology, it is possible to create a digital record of health and service from the moment of enlistment on.  Such data would enable us to cross-reference service-related injuries with others, track and trace health issues related to service and distinguish between those that are not service related.

What are your thoughts on more complete record keeping from the moment of enlistment, new MOS specializing in veterans issues or new installments for the General Counsel and legal clinics for military families?  Perhaps all should be considered as components of a more comprehensive approach to resolving veterans legal issues.


Tara Sue Clark
Executive Director
Veterans Foundation Inc.

The Veterans Law Project is the premier source for legal information and assistance for military families.  By listing on our network you will receive referrals and opportunities to help others and educate students.

If you are an attorney who would like to offer pro bono legal services to military families, get listed in our Legal Resources Guide which will be posted online.

Or

Start a Veterans Law Clinic in your area.

If you would like to serve on a VLP board to assist in furthering the mission of the Veterans Law Project, let us know in your correspondence.

Simply provide us with the following:

Personal or University description (Bio/Resume/Purpose)
Mailing Address
Phone Number
Email
States where you are authorized to practice/teach law
and Areas of expertise
And whether you would like to join a VLP board.

Email all of the above to Veterans Foundation Inc.
or comment below.

A strong national defense demands more than war-time service and peace time intelligence; it requires the ongoing fulfillment of the debts owed to military families who’ve paid and served.  Unfortunately, the short sight of military engagement and administration leaves many survivors lost, struggling and without hope in a burdened veterans care system.  The Veterans Foundation finds that civilian groups who actively participate in the lives of veterans have a better understanding of the role that they serve as citizens and how this role so dramatically affects the lives of others.  The Veterans Law Project is one such program designed to assist military families with pro bono legal services while educating law students, legislators and the public at large to improve the relationship between the state and federal government, the public and servants to all of the above.

Title 38 U.S.C. 3404(c) limits to $10 the fee that may be paid an attorney or agent who represents a veteran seeking benefits from the Veterans' Administration (VA) for service-connected death or disability.  “Invalidation of the fee limitation would frustrate Congress' principal goal of wanting the veteran to get the entirety of the benefits award without having to divide it with an attorney. Invalidation would [473 U.S. 305, 306]   also complicate a process that Congress wished to be as informal and non-adversarial as possible.” 

The VA process has become both formal and adversarial.  The Board of Veterans Appeals is staffed entirely by experienced attorneys, and often they deny claims because of legal defects in the processing of the VA claim by the pro se veteran at the rating determination level; defects that could be avoided with competent legal assistance.   “An attorney can only receive compensation after the VA has rendered a final Board of Veterans Appeals decision on a veteran’s initial or reopened claim. This fact, coupled with the fee limitation, creates a vast void in legal representation that has resulted in a great need for competent legal assistance to protect the rights of veterans.“

The VA has been consistently under staffed and under financed while veterans are unable to obtain the assistance of legal counsel in the processing of their VA claims, which can be an arduous process for many whom such assistance would be invaluable.

Through the development of law clinics nation wide that will educate law students, train other volunteer lawyers to perform this work and create a pool of attorneys who will assist in answering the need for military family legal assistance without placing additional burdens on the VA system.  The Veterans Law Project will work with veterans’ service officers, veteran service organizations and the Veterans Administration within each state to become a value added support system working for our veteran community.  The VLP will acquire advisory committees from the established from these groups and organizations to oversee their state clinics and ensure a complementary procedure of working together.  The beginning of this cohesive structure is found in North Carolina at the North Carolina Central University School of Law Veterans Clinic which is overseen by the North Carolina Veterans Council:  A body of nine veterans’ service organizations operating within the state.
    

The Veterans Law Project is gaining support throughout the nation from veteran’s service organizations including, but not limited to Veterans of Foreign Wars Departments, veteran’s councils, commissions and universities with more exploring the possibilities daily.  The project is a viable, practical and non-adversarial way to provide legal services within the confines of state and federal law.  Providing education benefiting state communities and the nation as a whole, thel Veterans Law Project is an example of how necessity is met with sense. 

To become a part of the solution, join the VLP today.  Get listed in our Legal Resources Guide or engage a Veterans Law Clinic at your school or university.    

On Tuesday, April 17, 2007, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs will conduct a hearing on H.R. 67, Veterans Outreach Improvement Act of 2007; H.R. 1435, Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Backlog Reduction Act of 2007; H.R. 1444, To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make interim benefit payments uner certain remanded claims, and for other purposes; H.R. 1490, To provide for a presumption of service-connectedness for certain claims  for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.  This hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building (CHOB)

Things have been going great with the Veterans Law Project at North Carolina Central School of Law .  We are fielding inquiries daily and many of the requests for assistance involve the filing of veterans initial claims at the VA regional office level.  We have 19 law students involved in the Veterans Law Project from both the University of North Carolina Central School of Law and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.  The course will be expanding into a three credit, 20 hours of  classroom time at the North Carolina Central University School of Law.  Students from North Carolina Central School of Law will have to do 100 hours of clinical work to achieve three credit hours.  The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students are doing their work for the Veterans Law Project Pro Bono.
 

by Craig Kabatchnick

For several years it was my desire to initiate a legal clinic at a North Carolina law school to provide legal assistance to veterans and their dependents with respect to VA claims of various types.  In light of recent world events and the continuing flow of American casualties from Iraq and an even larger aging veteran population, there is a significant need for such legal services - especially in light of legal fee limitations in federal law which discourage private attorneys from participating in veteran claims matters. The establishment of a clinic that will capitalize on eager intellectual assets (law students) and unlimited research resources, under the direction of highly skilled managing attorneys, seems to be a logical way to meet that need.  Establishing the clinic in Durham, NC is especially appropriate since a major VA hospital is located there and also because of its proximity to North Carolina Central University, thereby providing an excellent opportunity for law student involvement at all levels of the VA claims adjudication process.  Furthermore, North Carolina Central School of Law, a historically African-American institution, would greatly enhance clinical activity involving minority veterans, since a significant percentage of veterans are in fact African-American. 

By reason of my extensive involvement in veterans law, I felt especially equipped to lead in establishing and maintaining such a clinic.  Not only do I have experience in the General Counsel’s Office of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, but I have also been involved with numerous veterans claims in private practice.  In other words, I know the ins and outs of veterans law from both perspectives – the veterans’ and the government’s.

From a cost/benefit analysis perspective this clinic could be initiated through private funding, donations from foundations or otherwise.  The initial legal assistance could be provided at minimal expense in view of the large number of claims to be processed and the inevitable interest among law students in acquiring “hands on” experience.  The goal of the clinic’s supervising attorney is to serve as a full-time professor, teach two or three classes or seminars a week, and be available five days a week to assist groups of students in their training and their handling of veterans claims at all levels of the VA claims adjudication process. The cost for employment of a full-time professor and member of the staff at North Carolina Central University School of Law,  along with a modest support staff, would be quite reasonable.  It is my hope that an adequate grant from a foundation could be obtained to cover any costs for a full-time professor, a second attorney, as well as for office and clinical space for this and clinics at other schools.

Participating law students will assist with the screening of files and sorting incoming claims and documents necessary for claims development, interview veterans as to the validity of their claims, assist veterans with the technical aspects of filing their claims, perform legal research, prepare supporting legal briefs, help a claimant file all applicable forms, assure that the initial development of a claim is completed within the time limits imposed by the VA, and perform whatever other tasks are required to successfully move the veterans’ claims through the related adjudication process. The students providing assistance would receive credit for clinical study under arrangements between the clinic and the North Carolina Central School of Law.  Secretarial help will be necessary for monitoring telephone calls, setting up appointments, and completing documents.

Furthermore, not only could the law students help veterans to develop their claims, these students could assist in ordering further medical examinations when needed, and insuring that the VA applies its broadened duty to assist a veteran in the development of their claim required by the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, as well as case law.  Prior to filing an appeal with the Board of Veterans Appeals, which is staffed solely by VA attorneys, the students could assist with the filing of a Notice of Disagreement with an adverse VA rating decision, whereupon a statement of the case is issued by the VA explaining the rationale for the VA rating decision.  Thereupon an appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals would be filed with the assistance of the law students under the guidance of the Clinical Director.  I believe that I would be of immense help in training and guiding law students, in the processing of these claims in-house, based on my experience in my family firm, as well as Everett & Everett, where for more than 18 years I primarily focused successfully on medico-legal issues, as well as the vast experience I obtained after serving more than five years as a member of the Appellate Litigation Staff Group in the Office of the General Counsel of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Veterans in this country, and most especially in the state of North Carolina, are completely unable to obtain the assistance of legal counsel in the processing of their VA claims due to the fee limitation placed on veterans’ claims, dating back to the Civil War.  Students will be attracted to this program because they will gain hands-on experience handling claims, under the supervision of an experienced attorney in the area of VA law, involving such issues as compensation and rating determinations, home loan guarantees, widow’s benefits, hospital care/nursing home care, eligibility for vocational rehabilitation, and medical malpractice.

This clinic can be handled under the supervision and training of one full-time  attorney with VA experience performing as a Professor and supervisor and perhaps one additional assisting attorney, if needed, and the requisite support staff to assist with intake and filing, and of course the law students at North Carolina Central School of Law, who will fill that great void and great need for legal assistance to get these initial claims developed in such a nature that they are ripe for eventual judicial review at the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims level, or at United States District Court.   

Under these circumstances I concluded that some type of center, clinic, or institute is needed in North Carolina from which veterans and their dependents in this State and elsewhere can obtain the legal assistance which is necessary for the preparation and submission of their claims.  The level of legal training necessary to render this assistance can be attained by law students with a modest amount of legal training which can be achieved through classes at the law school on a weekly basis. 

North Carolina Central School of Law has distinguished itself with its in-house legal clinics and public interest programs.  North Carolina Central School of Law students could play a very major role in this regard, because they could be so readily trained in classes or otherwise to discuss potential claims with clients and provide assistance in preparing documents and assembling evidence.  In order for this in-house clinic to function properly, it would only take a single experienced attorney, with VA experience, to serve as full-time supervisor and professor and to train them on the VA claims adjudication appeal process. 

The rewards of this program are immense both to the students, and our society, who owes so much to those who risked their lives for our country.  The clinic stands to assist large numbers of injured service members, qualifying veterans, and their respective families, and will immediately help those individuals currently serving in Iraq, as well as those who served in Vietnam, Korea, and World War II.

This is the home blog for the Veterans Law Project.
Clinical programs shall be networked here for veterans and survivors seeking legal solutions. 

Law Schools and Veteran Service organizations  throughout the United States are invited to participate with the VLP.  Students and staff shall maintain online journals and correspondence to veterans and relative parties in their execution of  duties and clinic studies.

Learn more about the VLP here.
Find an active clinic in your area here...more to become active soon.
Support the VLP!  Email us here.

Stay posted for more information here at this site or at our forum page

North Carolina Central University Veteran's Law Clinic
....more listings coming soon

Veterans Foundation Inc.
Raleigh
11 February 2007

 

A strong national defense demands more than war-time service and peace time intelligence; it requires the ongoing fulfillment of the debts owed to military families who’ve paid and served.  Unfortunately, the short sight of military engagement and administration leaves many survivors lost, struggling and without hope in a burdened veterans care system.  The Veterans Foundation finds that civilian groups who actively participate in the lives of veterans have a better understanding of the role that they serve as citizens and how this role so dramatically affects the lives of others.  The Veterans Law Project is one such program designed to assist military families with pro bono legal services while educating law students, legislators and the public at large to improve the relationship between the state and federal government, the public and servants to all of the above.

Title 38 U.S.C. 3404(c) limits to $10 the fee that may be paid an attorney or agent who represents a veteran seeking benefits from the Veterans' Administration (VA) for service-connected death or disability.  “Invalidation of the fee limitation would frustrate Congress' principal goal of wanting the veteran to get the entirety of the benefits award without having to divide it with an attorney. Invalidation would [473 U.S. 305, 306]   also complicate a process that Congress wished to be as informal and non-adversarial as possible.” 

The VA process has become both formal and adversarial.  The Board of Veterans Appeals is staffed entirely by experienced attorneys, and often they deny claims because of legal defects in the processing of the VA claim by the pro se veteran at the rating determination level; defects that could be avoided with competent legal assistance.   “An attorney can only receive compensation after the VA has rendered a final Board of Veterans Appeals decision on a veteran’s initial or reopened claim. This fact, coupled with the fee limitation, creates a vast void in legal representation that has resulted in a great need for competent legal assistance to protect the rights of veterans.“

The VA has been consistently under staffed and under financed while veterans are unable to obtain the assistance of legal counsel in the processing of their VA claims, which can be an arduous process for many whom such assistance would be invaluable.

Through the development of law clinics nation wide that will educate law students, train other volunteer lawyers to perform this work and create a pool of attorneys who will assist in answering the need for military family legal assistance without placing additional burdens on the VA system.  The Veterans Law Project will work with veterans’ service officers, veteran service organizations and the Veterans Administration within each state to become a value added support system working for our veteran community.  The VLP will acquire advisory committees from the established from these groups and organizations to oversee their state clinics and ensure a complementary procedure of working together.  The beginning of this cohesive structure is found in North Carolina at the North Carolina Central University School of Law Veterans Clinic which is overseen by the North Carolina Veterans Council:  A body of nine veterans’ service organizations operating within the state.
     
The Veterans Law Project first pilot was initiated by an attorney Craig Kabatchnick .  Craig’s career is highlighted this development of a comprehensive legal solution for military families.  “From 1990-1995 as former Senior Appellate Attorney, Association Special Assistant and Appellate Attorney in the Office of the VA General Counsel, he represented the Department of Veterans Affairs before the United States Court of Veterans Appeals in more than 250 cases of medical/legal nature.”  Craig has decades in veteran’s legal experience and provides oversight as the adjunct Supervising Attorney for the Veteran’s Law Clinic at North Carolina Central University School of Law, the first installment for the Veterans Law Project.  There are law clinics everywhere, but few if any actively specializing in veteran’s law.  This concept, these clinics will become if not

The Veterans Law Project is gaining support throughout the nation from veteran’s service organizations including, but not limited to Veterans of Foreign Wars Departments, veteran’s councils, commissions and universities in Delaware, Missouri, Virginia and North Carolina with more exploring the possibilities daily.  The project is a viable, practical and non-adversarial way to provide legal services within the confines of state and federal law.  Providing education benefiting state communities and the nation as a whole, thel Veterans Law Project is an example of how necessity is met with sense. 


The Veterans Law Project has identified the following goals for 2007-2008:

•    Expand and fund the NCCU Veterans Law Clinic.
•    Complete construction of the Veterans Law Network online. 
•    Engage New Clinics in Virginia, Delaware and Missouri
•    Secure funding for a 5 year clinical operation growing by 20% each year. (See Cost Projection and Summary)
•    Create a trust for the Veterans Law Project and Advisory board for oversight of clinic operations and funding.
•    Conduct research, preliminary studies on met & unmet claims, saturation rates for clinics within particular veteran populations and efficiency.

Our pilot clinic at North Carolina Central University is located in a highly military populated state.  A “thorough-fare” of deploying and returning personnel, NC is a target for educating and assisting new and future veterans.  It is estimated that North Carolina will soon have the second largest veteran population of any state.   Veterans will have disability claims as a result of service throughout the globe.  There are very few attorneys registered with the North Carolina Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service to handle veteran’s claims.  Many will need help with the initial filing and in appeals from denial of their claims.  Additionally, the NC Veterans Council is well connected with multiple parts of the veteran service community.  The various group projects and relationships provide a conduit for veterans needing claims assistance.   The Clinic must be in a position to assist on a grand and growing scale and provide a rich population from which to extrapolate data to.

The Network will link together all veteran’s law clinics and relative support structures.  The Network will provide online screening for prospective claims, Web journals for students, tools for staff administration, free online services to veterans and legal referrals. The Network will later include live support/counsel and broadcast media for training, reference, counsel and possibly assist in adjudication.  The Network will serve as a blue print for what the physical network.  The Veterans Law Network will grow along with the Project in tools, services and membership, creating a virtual community for those who may not be within close proximity of an active clinic.


The idea for a veteran’s law clinic is inviting not only vets, but to universities as well.  Already attending attorneys at various law schools are seeking support and information for starting and funding their own clinics to serve their local veteran communities and enrollees.  Clinics in Virginia, Missouri and Delaware will be focused on due to established clinical models, supporting relationships, and funding requirements (some schools may already be funded.)  The ability to create as many clinics as efficiently (and timely) as possible to meet the ongoing demand for legal services will naturally;  assist more veterans in need, educate the legislature and the public on the protracted cost of war with anticipation for the future costs .

The Veterans Law Project is planning to develop internal revenue streams to support clinics and services.  Funding is dependent upon the number of clinics in operation and shall be scaled accordingly.  Operating costs for five clinics are estimated at 1.5 million dollars per year, 7.5 over five years.  Initial costs are lower in some states, higher in others.  The Veterans Foundation is seeking support from various industries to support the clinic and reduce these costs including equipment and hardware contributions and network support.

Healthy capital management is key for ongoing growth and success.  The Trust will serve the project in a variety of ways, most obviously, as a pool for capital resources to benefit participants.

One of our greatest concerns is the efficiency factor.  The Veterans Law Project is created to minimize waste, expense and unnecessary effort for those in need of service, assistance and education.  Close study of the clinics within certain populations over a specified period of time will help in measuring and managing a purposeful direction for our veteraned military community.

A Solution.  For many, it is hard to come by both in peace and war.   A just settlement of a veteran plea is essential to maintaining a strong national defense and morale.  One service member touches the lives of family members, neighbors and future defenders of our constitution.  It is ironic that veterans defending these laws become victims of the system built to receive them.  It is proper to freely offer legal support to those who gave of their lives to defend ours.  By honoring the debt owed to those who gave their livelihood for our country and what they stand for, we inspire the next generation to do the same.     

 
Working Budget Cost Sheet for North Carolina Central University Veterans Law Clinic
                                                   
      

                                                                                             
                Year 1        Year 2        Year 3         Year 4            TOTALS
                                                   
Attorney 1            85,000        90,100        95,506        101236.36            371,842
Attorney 2            85,000        90,100        95,506        101236.36            371,842
Paralegal                40,000        42,400        44,944        47640.64            174,985
Fringe Benefits            52,500        55,650        58,989        40028.36            207,167
Research Assistants            6,000        6,000        6,000        6,000            24,000
Travel                15,000        15,000        15,000        15,000            60,000
Equipment            40,000                                    40,000
Maintenance Agreements        7,000        7,000        7,000        7,000            28,000
Postage                1,000        1,000        1,000        1,000            4,000
Office Supplies Software        20,000        20,000        20,000        20,000            80,000
Litigation Expenses            10,000        10,000        10,000        10,000            40,000
Library Purchases and updates        30,000        10,000        10,000        10,000            60,000
                                                   
                                                   
TOTAL                391,500        347,250        363,945        359,141.72            1,461,847