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The University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic has successfully resolved a long-running legal battle on behalf of the daughter of a disabled Vietnam veteran. The settlement, reached before the case was scheduled for oral argument before a panel of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, resulted in nearly $30,000 in retroactive Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits.
The case was originally spearheaded by Angela Drake, the founding Director of the Veterans Clinic, who worked on the matter for several years before her retirement. “This case was deeply personal for me,” Drake said. “It was about a daughter who had been left behind by a system that was supposed to protect her. Over the years, so many of our students poured themselves into this case. Their dedication made this outcome possible.”
Carter Brooks Templeton, one of the Clinic’s staff attorneys and a former student of Professor Drake’s, picked up the case in its final stages, handling settlement negotiations with VA. “This was about fairness,” Templeton said. “We were prepared to argue the case in front of a panel of judges, and we believed we would win. But it’s even better to know that the client will finally receive the benefits she was entitled to years ago.”
The case involved a Marine Corps veteran who served in combat in Vietnam and was granted a 100% disability rating by VA in 2004 due to severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). That rating made his daughter eligible for DEA benefits. However, VA only sent notice of those benefits to the veteran—who by that time was estranged from his daughter, following years of family trauma and mental illness. She never received notice and did not learn of her eligibility until years later, after she had already completed college.
Despite those circumstances, VA denied her retroactive benefits, saying she had filed too late. The Clinic argued that VA violated its statutory duty to notify the dependent’s custodial parent, as required under 38 U.S.C. § 3563. The Clinic also argued that the failure deprived her of a constitutional property interest without due process.
The Court had scheduled the case for oral argument—a sign of the issue’s legal importance. Before argument could take place, the parties reached a settlement. Under its terms, VA will treat the daughter’s DEA application as if it had been filed back in 2004, unlocking nearly $30,000 in benefits.
This resolution marks the culmination of nearly a decade of advocacy, brief writing, hearings, and legal argument. It also highlights the Clinic’s mission: to provide hands-on training for law students while delivering justice for veterans and their families.