Law Day spotlights base legal office services

Published April 30, 2009
By Susan Griggs
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- For the past 51 years, America has observed May 1 as Law Day to focus on America's heritage of liberty under law, emphasize the individual responsibilities that freedom brings and recognize the people in the legal profession.

The 81st Training Wing's legal team, under the leadership of Lt. Col. Deborah Collins, Keesler Staff Judge Advocate, is being honored with a Law Day proclamation issued by Col. Christopher Valle, wing commander.

"I urge all citizens of Keesler to use this occasion to preserve and strengthen the rule of law and show appreciation for those professionals who ensure mission success by interpreting laws, applying legal principles, and, above all, helping people tackle problems on every scale," Colonel Valle said.

"A Legacy of Liberty Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial," this year's Law Day theme, encourages Americans to explore the accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln, regarded by many as one of the nation's greatest and most eloquent presidents, according to Colonel Valle.

Keesler's 24-member legal staff is comprised of nine military and two civilian attorneys, 12 paralegals and a secretary.

The office provides legal advice and support in the fields of civil law, contract law, labor law, environmental law, claims and military justice for courts-martial and nonjudicial punishment actions.

The staff also provides legal assistance to individual military members, retirees and family members on personal, noncriminal legal matters.

Attorney-advisor Dick Brock, chief of civil law, is the "patriarch" of the office, with 33 of his 41 years as an attorney at Keesler. He spent 11 years on active duty and 17 years in the reserves, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Mr. Brock said the legal office serves about 8,000 clients annually, saving them about $850,000 in legal fees. Additionally, the base's tax office, which he describes as "second to none," filed returns for more than 2,000 taxpayers this year, saving them about $390,000 in tax preparation fees and helping them to receive almost $3 million in tax refunds.

Mr. Brock said the criminal justice division "has a good case load for courts-martial. These folks aren't necessarily bad people - they tend to represent society as a whole."

The legal office provides counsel to all commanders on base for issues involving personnel, facilities and equipment. The staff handles freedom of information act issues, reports of lost vehicles and equipment and reviews base contracts for legal sufficiency.

"We're also responsible for a fairly expansive legal assistance program," Mr. Brock pointed out. "It's important for all military members, particularly those who are deploying, to have all the documents they and their families need during their absence. We provide assistance to some members of the other services, too.

"We also serve a large segment of the retiree population with a variety of legal needs -- real estate, wills, consumer issues and other concerns," he continued.

A major emphasis for the legal staff is preventive law "to keep things from going wrong," Mr. Brock explained. "We live in a very litigious society, and we try to solve issues at the lowest possible level. We work closely with the equal opportunity staff in mediation efforts.

"At any one time, we have two to four of our people deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba and other locations," Mr. Brock noted. "Some of our lawyers are assistant U.S. attorneys to deal with some of our cases that go into federal court."