PART I: A VIEW FROM THE TOP. Practical Painters far Legal Assistance Officers: A View From the Top

• Author: by Brigadier General Donald W. Hansen
• Pages: 02

The following article is adapted from an address by Brigadier Geneml Hansen to students at the 17th Legal Assistance Course at The Judge Advocate General's School on 24 October 1%.

1. INTRODUCTION

   Of ali the work that lawyers do in the military. it would be fair to say that the toughest job is truly that of the legal assistance officer. One of the many reasons for this is that we had a terrible habit of assigning our newest and most inexperienced judge advocates to that position. Newly commissioned judge advocates know little about the practicalities of legal assistance in the military and few know anything about the military itself, for example. who the important players are in our military communi. ties. In the past, we assigned these young attorneys to Fort

   'Judge Advwate Genera3 Coma, US. Army Brigadier General Hansen has been

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   Services Agency and Chief Judge. US. Army Court af Mihtary Review. December

   Advocate General, US Army. July 1979 to June 1961. Staff Judge Advoeate. Fort Du. New Jersey, July 1916 to June 1978: as veil 88 several other notable arargnmena. inclvdmg Vietnam LL hl , Umverhity ai Michigan Sehaal of Law,

   far Cleatwe Leadershrp Greensboro. North Carohna. 1982 US. Army War College, 1919: Command and Generd Staff College. 1910: Judge Advocate Officers Advanced Course, 1965; Judge Advoeaie Officer Basic Course. 1960. Brigader General Hansen authored Judiaal Funcfisnr far the Cammmdeil, 41 Md. L Rev1 119661. Mirrvlda and the .W&tary Douoiapmeni of a Cmrfifulionai Rbghf, 42 Mil. L Rev 65 119681. Discharge far the Good of thr Service. An Hiironeal Adminrstmiiue and Judicial Potpoum. 74 MI1 L Rev 99 11916b Conflaet Reralvtion an Lhr Milmry Socirt). B paper pmsented in 1984 to the Universlfy ai Sar, Die80 School of Law Annual Coifereace OD Law and Anthropolag): and The Wnctnited Sfdei Covm of Militan ReaBu. Unique Proerrses, Pawris rind R~sponsp bilitiss form Appellate Court. a paper presented to the 1984 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Jvsrlce Soences Member of the bars ai the Supreme Court of the United States, rhs Supreme Cawf of Colorado, the u S Dmlnct Court for tha State of Colorado. the U.S. Court of Mllifary Appeds. and the 0,s Army Court at Mditary Review

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   Indiantown Gap or Sinop. Turkey, handed them a copy of Martindale Hubbell, told them to practice the law of all the fifty states. and then admonished them not to "commit any malprac. tice." I think that in spite of this we have been extremely fortunate. So far I am aware of only one clam of legal malpractice against the Army. Nevertheless. assigning new Army attorneys to be legal assistance officers is fraught with peril. When I told my civilian practitioner friends how we sometimes did business, they were astounded.

   Today we are doing a much better job of preparing new judge advocates for the allexampassmg legal assistance practice they will encounter. TJAGSA Basic Course instruction on legal assis. tance has been increased in the area8 of law most often encountered in military practice and there is increased emphasis an practical exercises such as will drafting, separation agreement negotiations, and interviewing and counselling. OTJAG is inereas. ingly performing a vital "resource'' function by mailing materials that we either produce or procure on a regular basis to the more than 200 Army legal assistance offices. In addition, The Judge Advocate General. Major General Hugh R. Overhalt. has beentaking a hard look at our assignment policies to prevent the pasting of inexperienced Army attorneys at isolated locations.

   During my time as a legal assistance officer . and that was some time ago . at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Camp Zama, Japan, one of the most important events each month was receiving the package we used to get from a fellow by the name of Colonel Winkler. Colonel Winkler was an Army Chief of Legal Assistance who collected and distributed all Sorts of things that were very essential to legal assistance officers-where to write for records, handouts on lemon laws, ctc. We survived thanks to those materials and their arrival was a big event. The biggest problem, however, was that when the legal assistance officer left. he always took those useful materials with him and his succesior had to collect a new batch. I understand that remains B problem even today. 11. VIEW FROM THE TOP

   In this "view from the top" I want to emphasize to you the importance that Major General Overhalt places on the Army Legal Assistance Program. Within the Department of the Army there are indeed only two services where we help good soldiers and their families: claims and legal assistance. Most of our time,

   19861 VIEW FROM THE TOP Unfortunately, is spent putting bad soldiers in jail or out of the service.

   As the Assistant Judge Advocate General far Military Law, the legal assistance side of the Corps is my responsibility. In my OER support form, there are several major items dealing with legal assistance upon which I am evaluated. I can tell you that legal assistance is important to The Judge Advocate General because he personally added at least two of thoee legal assistance items to my support form. This is one of the reaeone that causes me to be very concerned about the Army Legal Assistance Program also.

   When Major General Overholt and Major General Suter, The Assistant Judge Advocate General, make their Article 6, UCMJ visits, they are going to talk to the legal assistance officers and look at their offices. Even ''worse," or better depending an how good a program you have, they will try to talk to some of your clients and find out how long it takes to get an appointment to see you. how they were treated, and what the results were. Some of that feedback will be provided to your rater. With that as background, I will now discuss several things about legal assis. tance, set some tones, and particularly for the Army legal assistance officers, give you some advise on how to get promoted.

   111. CONGRESSIONAL RECOGNITION OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE

   We in the JAGC have a very "proactive" attitude...