2021 Veterans' Pro Bono Project Here to Help

Albany Law School students are serving those who have served the United States again this year with the 2021 Veterans' Pro Bono Project on campus event on Nov. 13.

Veterans, current service members, and their families can receive free legal appointments on issues including family and matrimonial law, landlord/tenant law, consumer debt and bankruptcy, VA benefits, military record corrections, estate planning, and more.

The event is free of charge, but registration is required due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Please call 518-445-2365 or register online here to request an appointment with an attorney.

If you would like to sponsor Veterans' Law Day, or volunteer, please call 518-445-3335 or email mseeber@albanylaw.edu

The annual on-campus event – formerly called Veterans Law Day – is organized by students who recruit alumni and volunteer attorneys to help veterans with legal questions.

Directors Brittany White '22 and Matthew Seeber '22 are leading the project this year.
White took an interest in veterans’ rights through the service of members of her family, especially her father. She recalls watching the 1992 movie A Few Good Men with him when she was a child. The idea of becoming a Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) officer appealed to her ever since.

“I wanted to do something to give back to him and others,” she said.

For Seeber, a Marine from 2007-2011, he was drawn in through his, his brother’s, and grandfather’s service.

“It feels great to be able to help veterans and give back,” he said. “Being the only law school in the Capital Region and having the VA right across the street, there is a huge need to help veterans. They are an underserved community.”

The 2021 Veterans' Pro Bono Project is presented in memory of SSG Joseph Gentile who was an Albany Law School student before he passed away in 2020.

Gentile was born on March 14, 1985, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A 2002 graduate of Shelton High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003 and served his country courageously during several tours overseas where he earned the Combat Action Badge and a Bronze Star.

He medically retired in 2015 and moved back to Connecticut to rehabilitate. He met his wife Jillian and her son Frank in late 2015 and the couple married in 2018. They settled in the Poughkeepsie, New York area so Gentile could attend Marist College. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Paralegal Certificate in the hopes of going to law school. He achieved this goal in August 2020 and was looking forward to his first year at Albany Law School.

His wife Jillian is a current student at Albany Law.

An adored and doting husband, loving and caring father, and stepfather, Gentile will forever be remembered for his silent strength, loyalty, integrity, and selflessness.