Pensacola Veterans Struggle to Pay for Legal Help in Civil Court Cases, Panel Says

"From child support hearings to eviction notices, many Florida veterans are left to fend for themselves when it comes to complicated legal issues, members of a statewide committee on civil justice heard Friday.

Judges, lawyers and veterans advocates from around the state met in Pensacola to discuss what can be done to ensure veterans have better representation in the civil justice system.

Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga, chairman of the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice, said the group took its meeting on veterans' issues to Pensacola because of the high number of active-duty military members and retirees in the region.

"Access to civil justice not only impacts the poor, it also affects those of moderate income," he said.

A Tampa veterans crisis line receives more than 10,000 calls a month from veterans needing help, said Dennis Baker, president of the Florida Veterans Foundation. Many of the calls are about suicidal thoughts or addiction issues. A lot of the calls are also from veterans who need help negotiating the legal system, he said.

"A number of callers are telling us they need an attorney. It's everything from landlord/tenant disputes, wills and estates, mortgages and foreclosures, and taxes," he said.

Law professor Jennifer La Via, director of the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Florida State University College of Law, is trying to help. La Via said the school has provided free legal work for hundreds of veterans..."

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