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3. Dependents of retired members and dependents
of deceased retired members.
4. Reservists on active duty for single periods of
29 days or less and their dependents, as authorized by
the legal assistance area coordinator, in emergency
cases. Additionally, for the purpose of enhancing the
readiness of Reserve personnel for mobilization, active
duty legal assistance attorneys and Reserve judge
advocates who have been authorized by JAG may
provide premobilization legal counseling and assistance
to inactive Reserve personnel consistent with
mobilization readiness needs. Premobilization
assistance primarily consists of making sure wills and
powers of attorney are current and may include drafting
basic wills and basic powers of attorney.
5. Civilian personnel who are United States
citizens, other than local hire employees, employed by,
serving with, or accompanying the Armed Forces of the
United States, when they are assigned to a foreign
country or to a vessel or unit of the Armed Forces of the
United States deployed in excess of 30 days.
6. Dependents living in a foreign country
accompanying authorized civilians listed previously.
7. Members of allied forces and their dependents
in the United States, serving with the Armed Forces of
the United States.
8. Other persons authorized by JAG.
Persons who are separated from active service other
than by retirement are not generally eligible for legal
assistance.
Normally, the various veterans
organizations will help such individuals.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED
CHARACTER OF SERVICE PROVIDED
Information and files on legal assistance clients are
confidential and privileged under law and applicable
professional rules and guidelines. This confidentiality
is separate and distinct from military security
classification. Confidential and privileged matters may
not be disclosed to anyone by the attorney providing
legal assistance, except upon the specific permission of
the client or when the responsible legal assistance
attorney determines that disclosure is authorized or
required by law or applicable rules of professional
conduct. Disclosure of otherwise confidential and
privileged information cannot be authorized or made
lawful by order of superior military authority.
Other attorneys may be granted access to
confidential and privileged information for supervisory
and quality assurance purposes or to obtain their
assistance in the case.
Attorneys granted access to
information under this provision are bound to maintain
the confidentiality of the information. Office records
for prevention of conflicts of interest and statistical data
may also be derived from information provided by the
client.
If requested by a member’s commanding officer
(CO) or officer in charge (OIC), information on whether
a member of a command reported to a legal assistance
office will generally be provided. Information about a
member’s presence in the office will not be disclosed,
however, if doing so would reveal the nature of
conversations, advice, or resistance. The nature of the
legal assistance or the substance of conversations or
advice will not be provided without the client’s consent.
FUNCTIONS OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE
ATTORNEYS
A legal assistance attorney, in addition to his or her
responsibility to discharge his or her assigned duties that
are beyond the scope of a legal assistance role, must
perform a myriad of legal functions to satisfy the legal
assistance needs of his or her fellow Navy citizens. The
breadth and variety of these functions are discussed as
follows.
The legal assistance attorney and the LN in today’s
modern Navy have an increasingly important and
significant role to play in helping to maintain the high
morale and personal motivation needed in an
all-volunteer force.
As the concept of group legal
services gains greater support throughout our society,
the Navy’s legal assistance program has provided and
will continue to provide comprehensive and
high-quality legal services to Navy and Marine Corps
personnel. This is done through an expansion in scope
of the traditional program and further through the
expanded legal assistance program.
With the expansion of the traditional program and
the development of the expanded legal assistance
program, there is an increased need for effective liaison
with other government agencies as well as with other
naval activities. As the legal assistance attorney and the
LN come into contact with the civilian legal practice,
relationships with the local bar associations, courts, and
the business community must be established on a sound
footing. The net result should be better legal assistance
for clients.
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