Minnesota Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP)

The legal community in Minnesota provides Legal Assistance to Military Personnel in a variety of ways.

For the Warrior Community

• Active duty service members may wish to go first to Armed Forces Legal Assistance's online database to "locate active duty legal activities offering general legal services within the continental United States". As of 2013, it showed one office in St. Paul:
  133rd Minnesota Air National Guard Legal Office
  631 Minuteman Drive
  St. Paul, MN 55111
  Phone: 612-713-2509
  More general information is on the JAG Corps Legal Assistance Page.
• The Minnesota National Guard Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA) offers general legal assistance to servicemembers, their dependents and retired servicemembers in a variety of areas.
• Veterans will want to check with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
• The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans: its  Veterans Linkage Line 1-888-LINKVET (546-5838) offers information on veterans' benefits, healthcare, education, and reintegration PLUS Crisis Counselors for for immediate crisis intervention and psychological counseling 24/7. It also has a civil legal assistance program.
• The Minnesota Attorney General has a very helpful Guide for Military Service Personnel and Veterans
• The Minnesota State Court's Self-Help center includes a webpage about special laws and rules about legal actions involving members of the military, such as How to Find a Person's Military Status, The Rights of Servicemembers in Civil Court Cases, and more links of Legal Help for Servicemembers. Learn More Here.

General-Purpose Resources

Servicemembers, veterans and their families are of course eligible to use the same resources as anyone else.

• LawHelpMN is a good, general-purpose place to start looking for law help in Minnesota; it has a page specifically tailored to help veterans.
• Minnesota State Court's Self-Help center.

Private Practice Attorneys

Typically, a lawyer in private practice will listen to your situation, then give you an idea about how to proceed, in general terms, without charging you. If the matter is something the lawyer can help you with, but must charge for, sometimes you can work out a military-family discount, especially if you are easy to work with (e.g. have all your forms with you.)

• The Minnesota State Bar has a Find A Lawyer page with a variety of resources, including a web-based referral system that lets you look for lawyers interested in a particular kind of case (e.g. "military law") or by keyword (e.g. "veterans")
• The Findlaw website has a city-by-city list of lawyers in Minnesota who are interested in representing active-duty military personnel, military reservists, and veterans .

For Lawyers

• The Military & Veterans Affairs Section of the Minnesota State Bar was organized in 2012 to educate its members and members of the Minnesota State Bar Association about the practice of military law and veterans affairs, provide opportunities for its members to network, and to improve the practice of military law and veterans affairs in the Minnesota legal community. If you're a Minnesota attorney interested in this area, seriously consider joining this section!
• VETLAW/Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans provides assistance throughout Minnesota to positively motivated veterans and their families who are homeless or experiencing other life crisis. Many of these veterans have unresolved legal issues, primarily civil but sometimes including criminal expungements
• One way to find volunteer programs in Minnesota directly addressing the warrior community is to go to the MSBA Pro Bono Directory. In the "Working With" field, pick "Veterans" and his "search". It'll give you a list of programs that include veterans in their target clientele
• See also:
• Minnesota Volunteer Attorney Program: http://www2.mnbar.org/MVAP/
• Pro Justice MN: http://www.projusticemn.org/ "Minnesota's online poverty law resource for pro bono and legal services practitioners, law students, and faculty advising low-income or disadvantaged clients."

It is likely that there are other Minnesota programs, sponsored by local bar associations, law schools, and others. Anyone with more information on these or other programs are invited to contact me; the most convenient way is to add in a comment below. The purpose is service!

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See also

• ABA Military Pro Bono Project
• State-by-state list of LAMP programs