PCS Purgatory
by Erin Noble It is PCS season in my house, again (sigh). We move every 2 years, which puts us in an almost constant cycle of either planning for or recovering from a PCS. Right now I am in...
MSJDN to Co-host Event Bringing Military Spouse-Led Nonprofits Together
On August 26, 2016, Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN) and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) will convene a day-long event to educate, encourage collaboration and provide tools to make military spouse-led organizations more effective. Learning &...
NCIS Highlights Challenges Faced by Military Spouse Attorneys in Episode Featuring First Lady Michelle Obama
by Thea Pitzen Like my Navy family, many of you reading this may be fans of NCIS, CBS’s long-running and extremely popular action drama series that focuses on the “sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced...
Employer Spotlight: Tenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office
Editor’s Note: MSJDN asked its members to help us spotlight employers going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for the 2016 MSJDN Members’ Choice Award by members who told us in their...
MSJDN’s Year in Review: 2015
2015 was an incredibly busy and productive year for MSJDN and military spouse attorneys around the globe! January 2015 started with the good news that six military spouse attorneys were nominated for the 2015 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse...
TN Supreme Court Approves Military Spouse Law Licensing
Military spouses who accompany their servicemembers to Tennessee or Fort Campbell, Kentucky, can acquire a temporary license to practice law in Tennessee under a new provision ordered this week by that state’s Supreme Court. The new rule, which goes into...
The Great Debate – Your Career or Mine?
By Rachel Hsiao We have all been there – our career or the military? We face a decision between which side of our relationship will supersede the other. Our spouse’s (the service member’s) military career or our professional career as an...
Libby Jamison Awarded MSJDN’s Inaugural Mary Reding Smith Excellence in Leadership Award
On Sunday, July 12, 2015, during MSJDN’s annual Strategic Planning weekend at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia, MSJDN President Eleanor Vuono presented Communications Director and Board Member Libby Jamison with the inaugural Mary Reding Smith Excellence...
Arizona Welcomes First Military Spouse Under Rule 38(i)
In December 2012, Arizona State Rule 38(i) was issued, allowing qualified attorneys married to servicemembers stationed in the state to apply for admission to Arizona bar without examination. This support from the Arizona legal community acknowledges that military spouses should...
Book Recommendation: Stories Around the Table
Stories Around the Table (“Stories”) is exactly what it intimates: a collection of short stories about life in and around the military. Male and female military spouses, service-members, mothers of service-members, and children of service-members all gather around an...
De-Stressing the Lawyerly Way
Isn’t MSJDN all about lawyers? Lawyers create stress, they don’t relieve it! But, attorneys are actually uniquely well-suited to talk about stress relief. At the end of the day, we fix problems for a living and stress is just...
Work-Life Balance?
by Brooke Goldberg In December, the National Military Family Association (NFMA) held its annual Leadership Luncheon. This year, they examined the question, “Does a Work-Life Balance Exist for Women in the Military Community?” The question was asked of four...
Military Spouse Attorney Spotlight: Jocelyn Benson
“I quickly learned that uncertainty would be the norm. And we should embrace the time we have together.” Jocelyn Benson In 2010, Jocelyn Benson became a newly-minted military spouse on the brink of her...
Serving Guard and Reserve Families
By Rachel Hsiao It was a hot, humid, and muggy summer day when I joined my fiancé Patrick, an active Army Guard Reservist, for my first Family Organization Day (or mandatory fun, as the military likes to call it). ...
MSJDN Supports Servicemembers and their Families through Virtual Legal Clinic
The Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN) is a group of military spouse attorneys, founded in 2011 by two military spouses frustrated with the challenges of maintaining a legal career that seemed incompatible with the military lifestyle. They formed MSJDN...
A Profile of Colorado’s First Military Spouse Attorney Admittee
“This is amazing. A group that is sympathetic and understanding of what I am going through!” That was Evelyn Guevara’s reaction when she found Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN) after googling “military spouse attorney.” Evelyn met her husband in...
MSJDN Pro Bono Week: MilSpouse Attorney Helps Gold Star Mom Keep an Enduring Legacy for Her Daughter
Every October, the American Bar Association creates an annual national spotlight on pro bono through their Celebrate Pro Bono campaign. Justice for Military Families is part of the national pro bono community; we provide pro bono legal services to the...
Volunteers Needed for Justice for Military Families Research Project
MSJDN is working on compiling a grandparents visitation rights guide for TAPS. They have asked us for a guide for families of fallen servicemembers. Specifically, we want to address what the law says in each state about a grandparent’s right...
Houston Hearts Heroes: Celebration and Advocacy in Action
July 8, 2014 was proclaimed Reda Hicks Day by Houston Mayor Annise Parker. The official proclamation read: WHEREAS, the Military Spouse Appreciation Day held in Spring 2014 celebrated the force behind the force by honoring spouses who exemplified dedication to...
Employer Spotlight: O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Editor’s Note: This is the eleventh and final installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award...
MSJDN Fills the Justice Gap for Military Families with New Project
Military spouse attorneys support each other and the military community through Justice for Military Families, a program that will provide free legal services to military families FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 5, 2014 WASHINGTON- The Military Spouse JD Network,...
Employer Spotlight: United Way
Editor’s Note: This is the tenth installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award by members...
Employer Spotlight: Bracewell & Giuliani LLP
Editor’s Note: This is the sixth installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award by members who told...
Employer Spotlight: Wittenberg Weiner Consulting LLC
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award by members who told...
Employer Spotlight: Gunster, Yoakley, & Stewart P.A.
Editor’s Note: This is the third installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award by members who told us...
Employer Spotlight: Langley & Banack, Inc.
Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in MSJDN’s series highlighting the employers MSJDN members say are going above and beyond for military spouse attorneys. Each employer in this series was nominated for MSJDN’s Member’s Choice Award by members who told...
Military Spouse Group Pushes the Political Envelope
On the heels of widespread pension cut debate, military spouses are rallying on the Hill next week to learn about what it takes to run for office, from both sides of the aisle. Congressional decisions affect every aspect of...
MSJDN Urges Legislators to Keep Faith with Military Families, Reject the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
Update: Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act today, by a vote of 226-195. The Act now moves to the Senate for consideration and voting. MSJDN will continue working on this issue in the coming week and asks members to...
TRICARE For Kids: Time For Change
Many MSJDN members have children who receive their health care through TRICARE, and some of our members are familiar with the process of navigating the military health care system to get proper care for their special needs children. These...
Be The Helpers
In the last week, our military communities have been stricken by natural disasters and man-made tragedies: the flooding in Colorado and the shooting at the Navy Yard. Although US military personnel are stationed in every corner of the globe,...
We Need You–Military Spouse Attorneys by the Numbers
As MSJDN continues to grow and develop as an organization, we are frequently asked to provide quantitative data about our members which we don’t have. We are often able to extrapolate data about military families from the Department of Defense and other...
MSJDN Joins NMFA to Storm the Hill, #EndSequestration Now
Members, we need your help! MSJDN is joining the National Military Family Association in their efforts to #EndSequestration. On Thursday, September 12, NMFA, MSJDN and other leading military family organizations will take a stand and Storm the Hill to...
Busting Archetypes For Effective Advocacy
Note: MSJDN is pleased to introduce another member of its new Writer’s Corps, Natalie Wilson. We hope you enjoy her debut installment. Last week, as part of the “Everyone Serves” blog series from Blue Star Families, the BSF network...
Military Takes Huge Step Toward Fair and Equal Treatment for All of its Families
Wednesday was a day of celebration for families across the United State Uniformed Services, as the Department of Defense (DOD) took significant steps that Secretary Chuck Hagel described as underscoring Defense’s commitment to “ensuring that all men and women...
Grassroots Push: Urging Senators to Ignore Rhetoric, Hear Reality
This has been a whirlwind of a week for the Military Spouse JD Network, and it’s not over yet! It all started when our ongoing rule change efforts in California were derailed by a piece of legislation, AB 296,...
NEXT STEPS on the Road to #Nix296
On Monday MSJDN launched its campaign to kill California AB 296, a bill harmful to military spouse attorneys and their families. Tuesday, MSJDN members, friends, family, and supporters took to the phones to let the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Don...
California Bill Will Heighten Military Spouse Employment Barriers
Update available HERE. Last week MSJDN achieved another state victory with the passage in Illinois of a licensing accommodation for military spouse attorneys, making it the fifth state to do so. That’s why we were so shocked to hear that California Assemblymember Don Wagner...