Equal Justice America is launching a nationwide movement of veterans helping veterans—with the ultimate goal of ensuring that every veteran who needs legal assistance can obtain it, regardless of their ability to pay. U.S. Army combat veteran Pete Pinnel has been named to lead the effort.

When Americans think about helping veterans, they naturally think of medical care, housing, employment and mental health services. Legal assistance rarely comes to mind. Yet a lawyer can be the key to securing those very things—helping veterans obtain the benefits they've earned, gain access to essential medical care, keep a roof over their heads and overcome other legal obstacles to rebuilding their lives.

Establishing legal assistance as one of the most powerful ways to transform veterans' lives is central to the mission of EJA's new Veterans Project.

Equal Justice America has already proven it works.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with veterans, EJA's young Veterans' Rights Fellows help them tackle whatever legal nightmare or headache is standing in their way. They've provided life-changing legal assistance to scores of veterans who otherwise might have nowhere to turn—helping them secure significant benefits they've earned, obtain essential medical care and protect their homes. One veteran recovered more than $180,000 in retroactive benefits and secured over $4,000 in monthly disability payments.

Now EJA wants to take that success across the country.

The need is staggering. According to the Legal Services Corporation, low-income veteran households received inadequate or no legal help for 84% of their substantial civil legal problems. That doesn't include veterans who earn too much to qualify for free legal assistance but still cannot afford an attorney. Without legal representation, veterans can spend years fighting unsuccessfully for benefits they've earned, go without essential medical care or even lose their homes. The consequences can be devastating—not just for veterans, but for their families.

EJA is determined to make legal assistance for veterans a national priority—and mobilize a movement to make it happen. By bringing veterans together across the country, EJA intends to put more lawyers to work helping veterans nationwide. The message is simple: No veteran should be denied the legal help they need simply because they cannot afford a lawyer.

Meet Pete Pinnel

Our new Veterans Project Director served with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, deploying to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. A former Staff Sergeant, Pete brings military leadership and enduring bonds with fellow veterans—bonds forged through shared hardship, extraordinary danger and the experience of trusting one another with their lives.

Those bonds did not end when Pete left the Army.

For more than two decades, he has remained close to fellow veterans, taking a genuine interest in their challenges and well-being. His commitment is personal: as a disabled veteran, he spent nearly 20 years fighting on his own to obtain disability back pay through the VA system before finally succeeding.

Pete had been searching for a meaningful way to help fellow veterans. When he learned about Equal Justice America's Veterans Project, he recognized something more than a job. He had found his calling.

“When I first read this job description, a huge light went off in my head,” he recalled. “This is exactly what I want to do.”

Pete will lead an ambitious national campaign to transform how America helps its veterans—mobilizing those who have served to stand up for one another and uniting them around one simple promise:

No Veteran Left Behind.