Samantha Farish

The Project

Samantha will provide pro bono representation to veterans seeking service-connected benefits who have successfully appealed an unfavorable decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) only to have their case remanded back to the agency by the appellate court.

Remands by the appellate court result in the veteran being given another opportunity to pursue the claim again by presenting new evidence. Volunteer attorneys will be able to use their training and expertise to identify what evidence is necessary to prevail at the agency. Navigating the appeals process is not just difficult for the veteran, it can even be daunting for experienced attorneys due to unique agency procedures and regulations. The solution is to train a corps of volunteer lawyers to represent veterans at the agency and enhance their chance of ultimately succeeding.

Her parents who are both veterans of the US Navy and Samantha’s substantial experience with veterans law has inspired this project.

Fellowship Plans

Samantha will represent veterans whose cases have been remanded but the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). She also plans to pitch attorneys from The Veterans Consortium National Volunteer Corps who work on cases at the court level to volunteer to continue representing their clients when it returns to the VA. Samantha will create and deploy an online training entitled “Continuing Representation from CAVC back to the VA” and recruit medical professionals to offer pro bono medical services to veterans.

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