Capitalizing on the enthusiasm shown by a task force assembled last year by 2014 President Stephanie Skaff, BASF has created a Military Affairs Committee for members.

The 2014 task force, made up of six attorneys and two UC Davis School of Law students, worked for several months at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense to give BASF’s recommendations to improve the military justice system.

Each task force member had ties to the military, being a past service member and/or former or current reserve member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG).

As the task force worked on BASF recommendation, they completed research on current and pending legislation, studied articles and publications, and drafted recommendations for the BASF board of directors, with the law student members providing valuable assistance. This work led the task force to suggest that the Military Affairs Committee be created.

The Military Affairs Committee will provide a forum for the open exchange of military law, policy review, legal education, and matters affecting veterans and the military community by building a network of uniformed and civilian legal professionals. Members will help coordinate BASF and JDC work with the community, including the Veterans Administration, San Francisco Superior Court, and the many legal services providers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The committee’s work will focus on:

• Building strong and efficient legal services for the veterans community
• Providing legal education on best practices in the representation of veterans
• Studying and making recommendations on military legal and policy issues, and responding to breaking new items

A roundtable organizational meeting will be held in April.  To sign up for the committee, please contact Raquel Cabading at rcabading@sfbar.org.