Monday, November 25, 2013

Missouri Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP)

The legal community in Missouri 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". When I checked the State of Missouri in 2013, I got:
Location (Branch)Contact Information
MAPWhiteman AFB
(Air Force)
509 BW/JA
509 Spirit Blvd Ste 203
Whiteman AFB, MO 65305
Phone: 660-687-6809 DSN 975-6809
http://www.whiteman.af.mil/
MAPFort Leonard Wood
(Army)
Fort Leonard Wood
316 Missouri, Bld 315
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473
Phone: 573-596-0629 None
http://www.wood.army.mil/wood_cms/
  • Servicemembers, veterans and their families are of course eligible to use the same resources as anyone else. Legal Services of Missouri hosts a free Legal Library, including links to legal services programs.
  • The Missouri Department of Public Safety Veterans Commission focusses on other topics, but offers help in screening of complaints from veterans regarding observance of Veteran's preference in federal hiring to the Director of Employment and Training  See http://mvc.dps.mo.gov/benguide/employmentassistance.asp
  • Reserve and Guard members, and their families, who are having problems during deployment or a year after, should contact the Hero At Home Program Phone: 1-800-728-JOBS. Learn more at https://worksmart.ded.mo.gov/documents/

Private Practice Attorneys

Typically, a lawyer in private practice will listen to your situation for 15 or 20 minutes, 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. The Findlaw website has a city-by-city list of lawyers in Missouri who are interested in representing active-duty military personnel, military reservists, and veterans.

For Lawyers


The Missouri State Bar according to its website,  has a Military Law Committee, but does not appear to have anything oriented towards veterans. This may be a growth opportunity for attorneys seeking to expand their practice.

More Resources?
There as to be other Missouri programs, sponsored by local bar associations, law schools, and others, in service to our warrior community. 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!

See also

How Can Stateside Legal Help You?

Stateside Legal is a website intended to help servicemembers, veterans and their family members and advocates with resources such as

  • Self-help legal information 
  • Teaching videos about servicemembers' rights under the SCRA 
  • Commonly used interactive forms 
  • An interactive map of free legal aid offices 
  • Research tools for legal advocates
  • Etc.
Servicemembers, veterans, their families and friends who can't find the resources they need for a legal issue should check out resources such as their "Find Local Help" page. On the other hand, if you provide such services, you should check to see that you are on that page and, if not, contact the website to get added.