On-Demand Video
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Introduction to Trauma Informed Advocacy & the PA Veterans Treatment Court


  • City:
  • Start Date:2022-04-03 20:00:00
  • End Date:2025-04-03 20:00:00
  • Length:
  • Level:Basic
  • Topics:Government

$249.00 ProPass

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Overview

Join us for part one of the three-part series, Veterans Advocacy in Pennsylvania. 

“We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by the experience on mind, brain, and body.” 
Bessel van der Kolk, MD, The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

What are our obligations as advocates when working with individuals who have experienced trauma? 

How can we ensure that we zealously advocate for survivors, obtaining all the necessary information, prevent re-traumatization, and protect ourselves from vicarious trauma and burnout?

A trauma-informed approach to services acknowledges the prevalence and impact of trauma and attempts to create a sense of safety for all participants, whether or not they have a trauma-related diagnosis. Through trauma-informed, client-centered advocacy we have the ability to help an individual feel safe and empowered to make their own choice, collaboratively with an advocate they trust. Furthermore, in understanding the impacts of trauma, advocates can be aware of its impact on our own lives so that we can mitigate the effects of vicarious trauma and burnout. 

The first part of this program focuses on recommendations drawn from a review of core components of evidence-based therapeutic intervention models. Advocates show you how to apply these recommendations to your practice and provide effective strategies for engaging with clients sensitively to avoid re-traumatizing the individual through actions and words.

The second part of this conversation will include a panel on Veterans Treatments Courts and their impact on Pennsylvania Veterans. The focus will be on the history of Veterans Treatment Courts, how they are run in Pennsylvania, and their impact.

Become an Accredited VA Representative before the next session to have the course count toward your VA CLE requirement.

If you are interested in providing advice and/or representation to veterans in VA benefits matters, you MUST be accredited through the US Department of Veterans Affairs Office of General Counsel. In order to become accredited, you must fill out VA Form 21A (found here). Once you fill out the form and submit it to the Office of General Counsel (more information can be found here), you will receive notice of your accreditation. Within the first twelve months of your accreditation, you are required to take a three-hour CLE on veterans law. The second CLE in this series will count toward that CLE requirement. You must have already obtained your attorney ID number prior to taking the initial required CLE course. If you have any questions, please contact us

Co-sponsored with the PBA Military & Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

We extend our gratitude to the Series’ planning team:

  • Lisa Grayson, Esq., Co-Chair, PBA Military & Veterans Affairs Committee
  • Stephan K. Todd, Esq., Co-Chair, PBA Military & Veterans Affairs Committee
  • Brendan Auman, Homeless Program Manager, Government Action Committee on Veterans, PA Dept. of Community & Economic Development
  • Samantha Cossman, Regional Program Outreach Coordinator, PA Dept of Military and Veterans Affairs, PA VETConnect 
  • Richard Prebil, Esq., Staff Attorney, Legal Aid, Veterans Advocacy Project
  • Thomas J. Reed, Professor Emeritus & Staff Attorney, Veterans Law Clinic, Widener University Delaware Law School
  • Craig Swineford, Veterans Services Specialist, Pa Dept Of Military and Veterans Affairs, Region 3
  • David Trevaskis, PBA Pro-Bono Coordinator
  • Michele Vollmer, Professor, Penn State Law

All attendees will receive the course book as a digital download. A printed copy of the course book is available, at a discount to attendees, for $40. Additional copies are available at full price. If you wish to purchase the printed version of the course book, please call PBI Customer Service at 800-932-4637. Please allow up to two weeks after the program for the printed versions of the course book to be shipped.

Recorded in April 2022.

Faculty

Lisa Grayson

The Honorable Lisa M. Grayson is currently the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court for Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.  She recently retired after serving in the United States Air Force and Pennsylvania Air National Guard as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Prior to taking office in 2014, Ms. Grayson was a staff attorney for the United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, concentrating on death penalty and pro se cases. Prior to working for the Court, Ms. Grayson was in private practice, handling diverse matters in civil, criminal, and orphans’ court matters focusing on wills & probate, real estate, family, dependency, municipal, and mental health law.  Ms. Grayson is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, currently the co-chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs committee and Cumberland County Bar Association, currently serving as a director of the board.  Ms. Grayson is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law and Pennsylvania State University. 

Stephan Todd Esq.

Mr. Todd retired from United States Steel Corporation in 2007 as Vice President-Law and Environmental Affairs. Prior to joining U. S. Steel in 1976, he was on active duty with the U.S. Army (JAGC) and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Colonel in 1996. He was a member of the Supreme Court Disciplinary from 2008 to 2014 and served as co-chair. Mr. Todd received his B.S. from Ohio State University in 1967, his J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1970, and his LL.M. from University of Virginia Law School in 1976.

Richard Prebil Esq.

Richard A.J. Prebil, Esq., currently serves as a Staff Attorney with the Veterans Advocacy Project at Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, a project he helped establish in mid-2020. The mission of the Project is to provide trauma-informed, client-centered legal representation and advice to veterans experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness, and income insecurity, or living with a disability, in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties, and to empower individuals through legal education and increased access to the courts, and to change community practices and systems that cause or aggravate poverty. Currently, he primarily practices in the areas of VA benefits, discharge upgrades, and social security. He also provides brief advice in the areas of unemployment compensation, landlord/tenant, and other matters as necessary. He joined Legal Aid of Southeastern PA in September 2019 as a staff attorney in its Chester City, Delaware County, office representing low-income individuals throughout Delaware County in the areas of landlord/tenant, public/section 8 housing, child custody, public benefits, and unemployment compensation. Prior to joining Legal Aid, Mr. Prebil was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Military Assistance Project where he provided representation and outreach to veterans, current military personnel, and their families, in the areas of veterans benefits, discharge upgrades, and Chapter 7 bankruptcies. Throughout law school he interned with different legal service and social service organizations from Minnesota to Chicago to Philadelphia, focusing on assisting individuals experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness and income insecurity. Mr. Prebil is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield (BA) and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law (JD). He also earned a Certificate in Trauma-Informed Organizations from the Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care at the University of Buffalo in 2018. Mr. Prebil is licensed to practice law in PA, an accredited attorney with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and is on the bar of the US District Court for the Eastern District of PA and the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 

Wesley R. Payne IV, Esq.

Mr. Payne is a partner in the litigation department at White and Williams, LLP, in Philadelphia. He is also the immediate past chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee, chair of the Pro Bono Committee and co-chair of the Partners’ Compensation Committee. He primarily focuses his practice in the areas of insurance defense, bad faith, extra-contractual damages, disability and coverage matters. Mr. Payne is a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America by Best Lawyers, and an AV Preeminent peer-rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell. He has over 35 years of experience representing insurance carriers and insureds in first- and third-party litigation matters. Mr. Payne has successfully defended wrongful death, extra-contractual damages, product liability, asbestos, toxic tort, environmental, mass tort, commercial auto, construction, insurance coverage, disability, ERISA and general liability cases. Prior to joining White and Williams, LLP, he managed an inhouse litigation office for a major insurance carrier. Mr. Payne is licensed to practice before all state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He has written and lectured on bad faith, extra-contractual damages, civil litigation and uninsured and underinsured motorist issues. Mr. Payne is a past Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, a past Zone 1 Governor and Minority-At-Large Governor of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, past president of the Board of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN), past president of the Conference of County Bar Leaders, past president of the Board of the Bethesda Project, a member of the Board of Directors of the Homeless Advocacy Project, a past co-president of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG) and a past president of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel (PADC). He was recognized by the Legal Intelligencer as an “Unsung Hero” for his dedication and service to the pro bono community. Mr. Payne is the recipient of The Honorable William F. Hall Award, the Huey R. Burkett Service Award, the Multicultural Leadership Award, and most recently named Defense Attorney of the Year by the Pennsylvania Defense Institute. He was also named as one of the “Top 60 African American Attorneys in Philadelphia” by the Philadelphia Tribune. Mr. Payne has been selected to City & State Pennsylvania’s 2022 Law Power 100 (39) and City & States Philadelphia’s Power 100 (91) lists. He serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Mr. Payne received his B.A., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he served as the president of the Student Bar Association.


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