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Number 17, October 2000 (updated March 2003):
Summary of Published Articles
By CAPT Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USNR*
The complete set of my Law Review articles is now available on the ROA Web site (www.roa.org). We omitted Law Review Number 1, which was published in November 1997, because that article contained an error. I thought that this would be a good time to inventory them for you.
Four articles deal with your right to civilian pension credit for military service that predates your civilian job. Those are Law Review Number 2 (March 1998), Number 13 (June 2000), Number 15 (August 2000), and Number 16 (September 2000). Law Review Number 3 (May 1998) is titled "Military Voting Rights." It deals with a lawsuit in Texas challenging the right of military personnel to vote. Law Review Number 14 (July 2000) is titled "Effect of Reserve Drill Pay on Unemployment Compensation."
The other nine published articles really constitute one long article, concerning the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Those nine articles are Law Review Numbers 4-12. The titles are "Pension Rights," "Notice to Your Civilian Employer," "Character and Duration of Service," "Deadline for Returning to Work," "Entitlements of the Returning Veteran," "Pension Rights-Continued," "Health Insurance," "Discrimination Against Reservists," and "Enforcement of USERRA Rights." The respective dates are July 1998, August 1998, September 1998, November 1998, December 1998, March 1999, June 1999, July 1999, and November 1999.
I am aware that many readers of my Law Review column are themselves lawyers. I try to make my articles understandable to non-lawyers, but I also include statutory and case law citations so lawyers can find the authority upon which I rely.
Members Can Call with Concerns
Because many members have expressed their appreciation for my service in taking calls from ROA members having questions, we are expanding that service from one evening per week to three evenings plus Saturday. I will be available (at 1-800-809-9448, ext. 713) from 1800 hours until 2300 hours Eastern Time most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I will also be available from 0900 until 1800 most Saturdays. You can also reach me by e-mail at swright@roa.org.
The reason we are offering this service during the evening and on Saturdays is that we want you to call from home, not work, especially if you are calling with concerns about your civilian employer. If your employer is annoyed with your military-related absences from work, the employer may be looking for a reason to fire you. Using the employer's telephone during work hours (even to call a toll-free number) could give the employer just the excuse he or she is seeking. Also, if you call from work it is entirely possible that someone will overhear at least part of the conversation.
Before you call me, please check out our Web site to see if I have already answered your question or one very much like it. If you have no computer and are unable to access our Web site, please give me a call, and I will mail you a copy of the pertinent article.
I have received many inquiries and appreciate your patiently waiting for me to answer your questions. My duties at ROA HQ have changed (see the ROA HQ section in this issue), therefore, I will have more time to research those questions and write those articles. For reasons of space, some of the future articles may be put on the Web site but not published in the magazine.
Guest Authors
If you are a lawyer with special expertise in a topic of interest to the military, perhaps you would like to be the guest author of a Law Review article. Some of the questions I have received are out of my areas of expertise (labor law, military law, and constitutional law). For example, I have a pending question from an ROA member in California, pertaining to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act and its relationship with state law. If you are a California lawyer certified in family law, and if you are willing to write an article, I would very much like to hear from you.
Continuing Legal Education
Several lawyers who are ROA members have inquired about continuing legal education (CLE) credit for attending our ROA Mid-Winter Conference or National Convention. We are considering sponsoring a CLE session in conjunction with the ROA Mid-Winter Conference (47 February 2001, in Washington, D.C.).
Does your state have mandatory CLE? Would you be interested in attending such a CLE conference in February? What topics would you like to see us cover? Can you assist us in getting your state to accredit such a session? If you have answers to these questions, please give me a call or send me an e-mail at ROA HQ.
Note: Captain Wright's military title is used for purposes of identification only. The views expressed in this article should not be attributed to the Department of the Navy or the U.S. government generally.
You can reach Captain Wright by telephone (1-800-809-9448, ext. 713), by fax (202-646-7751), by e-mail (swright@roa.org), or by letter (1 Constitution Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002). If you are calling concerning a problem with your civilian employer, it would probably not be a good idea to call from work. If your question appears to affect or be of interest to many members, Captain Wright will include it (without your name) in this column.
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