Sidley Partners Champion Veteran Clients in Recent Pro Bono Wins

The end of military service is not the end of the fight for many former service members who must navigate a complicated discharge process to obtain their hard-earned benefits. Through Sidley’s Veterans Advocacy Project, the firm’s lawyers — including Bill Curtin and Mike Hatcher, who themselves are veterans — help pro bono clients obtain these benefits and change the trajectory of their lives.

“I absolutely love it, being a disabled vet myself,” said Mike Hatcher, a partner in the firm’s IP Litigation practice who served in the U.S. Air Force. “To give my time to veterans causes is a great feeling.”

“It’s a very important part of my practice. I don’t view it as secondary by any means,” said Curtin, who served in the U.S. Army. “My restructuring practice is very rewarding, but so is this work.”

Defending Those Who Served

As a criminal defense lawyer in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Curtin was stationed in Mosul, Iraq, where he represented soldiers in high-profile cases. That litigation experience provided a solid foundation for his current practice in restructuring law: “Being able to think on my feet gave me confidence. To this day, being in court is what I like the most about this job.”

In 2004, Curtin survived a suicide bombing in the dining facility at his military base that tragically killed 22 people. “The fact that I survived gave me a better perspective on life. Things that we worry about on a day-to-day basis tend to bother me less.” Curtin was awarded several commendations for his military service, among them the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and the Combat Action Badge.

After leaving the Army, he spent 12 years with the Department of Justice as a bankruptcy lawyer before joining Sidley in 2019. It’s a career decision he attributes in part to the firm’s Veterans Advocacy Project, which he immediately became involved in. “It was a full circle moment, thinking back to advising my Army clients about the ramifications and rights with each level of discharge.”

Curtin recently represented a pro bono client who served in the Army for four years, including a one-year deployment to Iraq. After returning home from service, the client was given a random military drug test and tested positive for marijuana. This resulted in a general discharge classification that prevented him from accessing his GI Bill benefits to continue his education.

The client was referred to Sidley through a nonprofit legal services organization, and upon meeting him, Curtin was struck by the weight of what his client had endured both before and after his service. “He had just gotten back from Iraq and learned that his brother died. His childhood was just horrific, and he wanted to make something of himself by joining the Army.”

Sidley presented evidence to the Army Discharge Review Board that the client had multiple mental health diagnoses that predated his military service and were aggravated by both combat exposure and the death of his brother, leading to his use of marijuana. The Army Discharge Review Board upgraded the client’s discharge classification to Honorable, allowing him access to his benefits, including educational assistance.

“I have always taken the view that regardless of what trouble they got into, my clients volunteered to serve their country and put their life on the line,” said Curtin. “These are meaningful benefits that he earned.”

Putting Commitment Into Action

Hatcher, too, has felt a strong personal connection to his clients. He recalls one in particular who had served aboard a Navy destroyer in the Middle East for two years. During his service, the client was repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by a superior, but had been afraid to report the abuse due to the then-active Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. He was dismissed from the Navy with an “Other Than Honorable” discharge for using an anti-anxiety medication without a prescription to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the lengthy abuse he suffered.

“His story stood out because he thought he had no way out and felt profoundly alone,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher’s empathy for his client’s sense of isolation is inspired by his own experience of having his life upended in an instant. After graduating from college, Hatcher secured a coveted spot as a fighter pilot at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. Halfway through his fighter pilot training, a devastating motorcycle accident paralyzed his right arm, forcing him to medically retire from the Air Force. While recovering in the hospital, Hatcher’s thoughts turned to his future. “I started thinking, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?”

He channeled his competitive drive into a career in litigation. While working for a defense contractor as a systems engineer, he took night classes to prepare for the LSAT. After graduating from Georgetown Law School, he found his way to Sidley. In his work as an intellectual property lawyer, Hatcher handles cases involving patents and trade secrets, many rooted in science. “My electrical engineering and physics background allows me to delve into the technical side of the cases,” he said, while his pro bono work with the Veterans Advocacy Project keeps him connected to his military roots.

Under Hatcher’s leadership, Sidley managing associate Dunn Westhoff prepared the client to provide his first-hand testimony of abuse and harassment before a Navy panel. “Dunn did an outstanding job. He really took charge and took opportunities after they asked questions to redirect and make our points,” said Hatcher. The Sidley team succeeded in obtaining a discharge upgrade to “Honorable,” and securing service-connected disability benefits for the client.

Investing in the Next Generation of Advocates

 For both Curtin and Hatcher, pro bono work is essential, not just to the clients they serve, but to the development of young lawyers.

“Pro bono work provides responsibility and experience for junior lawyers,” said Hatcher. “There are many opportunities to contribute your time to a cause that’s important to you.”

“I’m always impressed by how many people at Sidley who are not veterans are as passionate, if not more passionate about these cases than I am,” Curtin said. “Pro bono work is a great way to get experience early in your career. It’s really just a matter of throwing your hat in the ring.”