About Us

StatesideLegal accomplishes its mission by providing information and resources so people with military experience, and their families, can protect:

• Their livelihoods
  • Employment, Unemployment, and Cash Assistance
  • Military Benefits
  • Military Records Changes and Discharge Upgrades
  • Debt Collection and Taxes
• Their health
  • VA disability benefits
  • Social Security Disability
  • Military Sexual Trauma Assistance
• Their housing
  • Leases
  • Landlord/Tenant
  • Security Deposits
  • Foreclosures
• Their families
  • Divorce
  • Child Support
  • Custody
  • Guardianships

StatesideLegal uses three strategies to empower people with military experience and their families:

1. We are building a broad library of legal information and self-help tools, which are available online at no charge.
2. We create interactive online spaces where people with military experience and their family members can ask questions to experts, including our popular Jim’s Mailbag feature.
3. We host a national directory of free and low-cost legal help from
   • Legal aid providers,
   • State agencies,
   • Law school clinics and,
   • Other resources that can help enforce legal rights and benefits.

This directory is searchable by state or zip code and is available online at no charge.

Our team watches the most common civil legal problems facing people with military service and we focus our efforts on those topics. Our current priorities are:

• Promoting awareness of rights and benefits both as a citizen and earned through military service;
• Providing resources and self-help tools on topics important to people with military experience and their families;
• Watching and sharing updates regarding laws and rules that effect people with military experience and their families;
• Focusing on the most vulnerable people with military experience, including those experiencing homelessness and women servicemembers.

StatesideLegal is available to everyone. However, we prioritize reaching:

• Veterans,
• Servicemembers,
• People with military experience, and
• Families of those listed above

We also make special efforts to reach persons who are especially vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, homeless veterans, and women servicemembers. 

This website is owned and operated by Pine Tree Legal Assistance.  Pine Tree Legal Assistance is Maine’s largest legal aid organization and has been providing free legal services to low-income Mainers since 1967.  In 2009, Pine Tree Legal Assistance received a grant from the Legal Services Corporation to create the website you’re now on. The website was built with help from Arkansas Legal Services Partnership and a team of volunteer advisors including:

• Members of the Judge Advocate General [JAG] Corps,
• Military legal assistance attorneys,
• Private attorneys and,
• Veteran Service Officers.

The advisors helped select the name “StatesideLegal,” and continue to contribute content and website advice. The site was officially launched at the White House in November 2010. 

Members of the Stateside Legal Advisory Board also volunteer time and expertise to ensure website content is useful and accurate.

Current funding partners include the Legal Services Corporation and the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium.

StatesideLegal is lucky to have several servicemembers, former servicemembers, academics, and advocates on our Website Advisory Board. Learn more about our Website Advisory Board members.

It requires a lot of support to maintain this website and to provide classrooms, guides, forms, articles, and important legal developments to those with military experience.  We need your help to keep these resources available so all veterans, servicemembers, and military families can access them.  Please review our "How to Donate" page for more information on ways to contribute to this effort.