Pro Bono Innovators 2022 Honoree Jenner & Block

Your firm’s key matters included representing veterans with less-than-honorable discharges and service-related mental health conditions in a U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut class action in conjunction with Yale Law’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic. You also provided guidance to nongovernmental organizations amid the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. How did your firm strategize on how to approach these matters?

As with all of our cases, our strategy is informed by what will achieve the best results for our clients. In our veterans matter, we always tried to keep the focus on obtaining classwide relief, especially in the early stages as the government adjusted the discharge status of individual plaintiffs in an effort to moot our claims. Thus, obtaining class certification became a very important step in that case.

With respect to our work in Afghanistan, our multiple nongovernmental organization clients came to us with issues that we were invested in personally and professionally as a firm. Our strategy was based on expertise and knowledge from a team comprising lawyers who had experience working with and for the US government on foreign assistance matters and with actors across the humanitarian assistance sector.

What were the most innovative aspects of these matters in your view? And who took the lead on driving innovation with the work?

In our veterans case, the class certification order was one of the first ever issued in a case challenging a military branch’s discharge review policies. The structure of our settlement with the Army was unprecedented. [The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted final approval to the class action settlement in April 2021.]

The Army agreed to automatically reconsider the discharge status upgrade applications of thousands of veterans without those veterans having to take any affirmative step to trigger the review. Since these veterans suffer from mental health conditions, obtaining relief for them without them having to do anything was a significant and innovative achievement.

Our work in Afghanistan went beyond giving advice related to sanctions, but rather thinking holistically and broadly about long-lasting solutions to our clients’ issues. (For example, see this Just Security article). The work was client-driven but informed by our team’s knowledge and experience working on a wide spectrum of issues faced by organizations in the region.

Tell us more about the impact of the matters on the local, national, and/or global level.

All of our matters had a far-reaching impact. Our veterans case was filed on behalf of approximately 50,000 less-than-honorably discharged Iraq and Afghanistan-era Army veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and other related mental health conditions. Reconsideration of their discharge status opens up the possibility of increased employment prospects and government services, including education benefits, mental health treatment, and disability benefits.

Our guidance to nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan had the immediate impact of allowing organizations to make real-time decisions about the safety and security of their personnel as the situation was unfolding on the ground. Organizations providing aid were also able to get back into the country as soon as possible to continue providing services in a sanctions compliant manner.

Why do you think your team ultimately achieved successful results?

We ultimately achieved a successful result in our veterans case because of our early success in the motions practice for the case—we put the government in a position where they were forced to shift their strategy.

Our success working with nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan was achieved because of the strength of our team—we had a true partnership between our clients and lawyers from our firm. We were able to provide pragmatic and practical advice based on our experience working in government, on foreign assistance issues and with a range of clients we serve in this space.

Take us back to the time the matters were resolved. What did you do to celebrate?

Our matters were resolved during Covid so our celebrations were tempered—mainly celebratory emails and Zoom calls. Our work in Afghanistan continues as sanctions are ongoing and evolving—we have to continue to adjust to meet our clients’ needs.

Responses provided by Nura Maznavi, Jenner’s pro bono counsel, with input from pro bono team members.

—With assistance from Kibkabe Araya.