Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic Receives National DOJ Award for Rural and Tribal Outreach

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law’s Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic has been named a winner of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Access to Justice Prize, a national competition recognizing innovative efforts to close the rural justice gap. 

The Veterans Clinic was one of five recipients selected to receive the Access to Justice Prize, which invited applicants to submit innovative ideas to expand access to justice within a rural jurisdiction and/or community. The award comes with a $15,000 prize, which the clinic will use to expand its Rural and Tribal Veterans Outreach Project that connects veterans living in rural Arizona communities with legal services. 

“We are extremely honored to receive this national prize,” said Kristine Huskey, director of the Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic. “I’m thrilled that our ideas and on-the-ground implementation to help rural Veterans in Arizona have been nationally recognized. I am even more thrilled that our students were such a large part of the innovative process on how we could increase legal services for rural Veterans. It is a testament to Arizona Law students and their ability to recognize disparities and creatively think about how to address them, using their legal skills and intellectualism.” 

The Clinic’s Rural and Tribal Veterans Outreach Project was led by Valorie Douglas (’21), who served as the Clinic Fellow from October 2024 through July 2025. Douglas spearheaded the clinic’s prize application with support from students Caleb Lynch (’25), Hayden Young (’25), rising third-year law student Brian Fitzsimmons, and BA in Law student Yubin Hanson (’25).  

Funding from the award will be used to support travel and outreach efforts, enabling students in the Rural and Tribal Veterans Outreach Project to meet Veterans in Arizona’s small towns and rural communities and provide legal assistance on matters such as VA benefits, discharge upgrades, and more.  

“We have learned that increasing access to justice for rural communities is not a 10k race, it’s an ultramarathon.” Huskey added. “This prize money will help our mobile law clinic to keep showing up in the places where rural and Tribal Veterans live, helping build trust, foster relationships and deliver the legal support they deserve.”