Legal Websites for Servicemembers

HEIDELBERG, Germany – Soldiers, family members, and retirees usually believe they need to go to the local legal assistance office to answer all their legal questions. In most cases, a stop by the office is quite appropriate. In other instances, a website called JAGCNET, a legal information portal, provides a wealth of legal information to inform people about personal legal matters and preventive law.

People are usually surprised to find out the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps has such a web site. While it is not a substitute for actual legal advice, the information on the site is invaluable and answers many of the questions people ask. A person does not always have to visit an attorney to obtain help with legal matters, and a visit to the site can answer a lot of common questions.

To learn more about the military legal matters, visit the Legal Matters webpage.

The site contains information about consumer and contract matters, housing and real estate, mobilization and deployment, estate planning, immigration, insurance, family law, and taxes. Also covered are explicit topics, like the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act. The site also offers a legal assistance office locator so people can find the legal assistance office nearest them.

The site also provides a link to the Judge Advocate General Corps’ Office of Soldiers’ Counsel website where Soldiers can get information on the Army’s Physical Disability Evaluation System (APDES) and find out how they can acquire legal counsel throughout the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) and Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) process. It is an invaluable site especially for Warriors in Transition who need advice and counsel during the formulation of their specific goals of either being found fit for duty or ensuring that the Army appropriately rates their disabilities.

The Office of Soldiers’ Counsel is independent from and not a subordinate office to the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency or the Physical Evaluation Board. Those agencies are components of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. Soldiers Counsel also do not advise or represent commanders, nor do they advise or represent members of the MEB or PEB.

Both sites offer a world of legal information at a person’s fingertips through the Internet.