When Charley Falletta, JD ’27, left the Army after eight years as a paratrooper—one of the first women to serve in gender-integrated ground combat units—she wanted to continue serving, just in a different way. During her time in the Army, she saw how lawyers and other outside advocates helped advance policies that opened combat roles to women and supported those navigating the challenges of integration. 

“Going into the law felt like a way to be one of those advocates,” she says.

Falletta now co-leads Stanford Law’s Paul Lomio Veterans Legal Assistance Program (VLAP), a student-run pro bono initiative that helps Bay Area veterans navigate a notoriously complex and backlogged Veterans Administration benefits system—one that can take years to process even straightforward claims. 

Lucia Jiang, JD ’27, and Rob Hooley, JD ’27, serve as the other two leaders of VLAP, which was founded in 2014 and named in honor of the late Paul Lomio, a veteran and Stanford Law’s former library director. 

Working with the San Francisco nonprofit Swords to Plowshares, VLAP volunteers—there are 16 Stanford Law students participating this year—help veterans overcome two of the biggest barriers they face: proving service-connected disabilities and upgrading discharge categories that can affect eligibility for medical care, housing, or education benefits.

VLAP is open to all students, and while about half to 60 percent of its members are veterans, many others join with no military background, drawn by the chance to do meaningful, hands-on legal work. 

Michael Winn, director of Stanford Law’s pro bono and externship programs, calls VLAP “one of Stanford Law’s longest-running and successful student-led pro bono projects.” 

“We talk often about client-centered lawyering at Stanford Law, but VLAP is exceptional in how it centers the experience of veterans not just when meeting with clients, but also when it organizes, plans, and trains. This is because, unlike most projects, student leaders and volunteers are often moving through the same administration systems that clients are, in this case the VA systems.”  

‘Helping Real People Who Served the Country’

Each academic year, VLAP’s work aligns with three core initiatives. In the fall, students engage in record reviews for veterans seeking discharge upgrades or VA benefits. Students examine service and medical files to identify key details and summarize the materials for Swords to Plowshares attorneys. “Ultimately, the work we do allows Swords to Plowshares to see and help many more veterans with their limited resources,” Falletta says. “That might mean combing through 10,000 pages of records so that when Swords to Plowshares steps in, they can focus on the strategy, not the paperwork.”

In the winter, VLAP offers a one-day legal clinic at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration, where veterans meet directly with students and attorneys for guidance. And in the spring, the group heads to San Quentin State Prison to assist incarcerated veterans with benefits and discharge-related issues.

“It’s very hands-on,” Falletta says. “You’re not working from hypotheticals—you’re helping real people who served the country and are trying to navigate an administrative system that can be extremely difficult to understand.”

Hooley, a West Point graduate who served in the Army for a decade before law school, brings a strong sense of mission to the work. “I had support when I got out, and even then it was hard,” he says. “But I knew people with justified claims who had no idea how to get help. VLAP gives us a way to bridge that gap.” He adds the matters handled by VLAP volunteers often hinge on context that wasn’t clear when the record was written. “Someone might have been discharged for behavior that we now know was related to PTSD,” he says. “Showing that connection can change the result.”

“There’s a big gray zone between ‘honorable’ and ‘dishonorable’ discharge,” explains Jiang. “A change of just one level within that range can determine whether someone qualifies for health care, housing assistance, or education benefits—or loses access to them entirely.” Jiang is one of the approximately 40 percent of the VLAP volunteers who are not themselves veterans. After graduating from USC, she worked in cybersecurity before coming to Stanford Law. Her partner serves in the California National Guard, and his extended family has a long record of military service.

“I’d been exposed to veterans’ issues through my partner’s family, and I’ve also seen how those issues can be politicized in ways that don’t always serve veterans themselves,” she says. “VLAP felt like a chance to engage directly and learn more about the real needs behind those debates.”

Hooley says he appreciates the program’s range. “Each quarter looks a little different,” he says. “In the fall, you’re engaged in intense document review. In the winter, you’re sitting with veterans at the clinic. In the spring, you’re working with those who are incarcerated. You see how broad the need really is.”