JAG Veteran and Pro Bono Advocate Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette Shares Her Story

November 15, 2022

Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette served for 10 years in the military, where she was an Admissions Advisor with the United States Air Force Academy, an Intelligence Officer, a Wing Executive Officer and an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate.

Now, as a senior associate with McGuireWoods, she represents veterans in her pro bono work with the National Veterans Legal Services Program. This year, Mallette was selected as an NCBA Citizen Lawyer Award recipient. In this article, Mallette talks about her tenure in the Air Force, the most pressing needs of veterans today and how attorneys can make a positive difference in veterans’ lives through volunteer work.

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When Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette relocated to Raleigh from Goldsboro in 2018, it was her seventeenth move. She was in the process of making a career transition from the military to private practice.

The city was new, but stepping outside of her comfort zone was not. She has embraced it throughout her life.

Her courage has led her across the U.S. and around the world. She has assisted high school students in inner-city schools, U.S. Air Force officers in the Middle East, and, now, she represents publicly traded and private corporations, as well as veterans both in Raleigh and beyond.

When asked where she is from, Mallette says she is from America.

“But if they have to pin me down to a space, I say that I’m from Colorado, because that’s the longest I’ve lived in one place. I lived in Colorado Springs for eight years. I finished high school and college there; my first job was there. But now Raleigh is creeping up because I’ve been in Raleigh for almost six years.”

2018 was a turning point in her professional life. It was one that she did not anticipate, but she looks back on it as part of a larger plan.

When Mallette retired from the Air Force in 2017, she was serving as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, where she had practiced for more than two years. Mallette, who had graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2014, had hoped to continue her career in the military.

“Then, my goal was to be the top lawyer in the Air Force JAG Corps, and I would have been the first Black woman to do it. My dad served in the Air Force for 30 years. My grandfather served for 20 years in the Army. I come from a family of military service members. My brother is actually still active duty in the Air Force.”

Her role as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate with the Air Force was one she had been working toward for several years.

Mallette’s record of service began with her role as an Admissions Officer in diversity recruiting, a position she was selected for after she graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies. Before high school, she had considered a career in the legal field but was not yet sure if she wanted to become an attorney.

As an Admissions Officer, she traveled across the country to share her experiences at the Air Force Academy, as well as the benefits of serving in the military and the difference one can make. She spoke to career counselors in schools and parents and assisted students who were thinking about joining the military.

Mallette recalls how as an Admissions Officer, she had the opportunity to assist individuals in underrepresented groups as they were pursuing their career goals.

In one instance, she had traveled to Philadelphia and had learned of a young Black student named Joy who was interested in applying to the Air Force Academy. Because the school was in a dangerous part of the city, it was on a no-visit list.

But Mallette was determined to meet Joy and to talk with her, and to provide her the assistance she needed to achieve her goals.

“Joy’s school had so many issues that they couldn’t retain any ROTC instructors. She took it upon herself as a senior in high school to get the curriculum for an ROTC class.

“I said, this woman is amazing. I am going to meet with her. Can I meet with her at the Applebee’s across the street? I picked her up from school, and then we met at Applebee’s, and I helped her through the application process. She went to the Air Force Academy and served for five years. Now, she is a veteran and a civilian who has her own real estate practice. Those types of things were the bright spots of that job.”

In 2010, Mallette became an Intelligence Officer in Charleston, South Carolina. Her role was to provide important information to C-17 pilots before they engaged in missions in the Middle East. The officers she worked with were a part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.

During this time, she deployed to Germany.

“I provided their last intelligence briefing in Germany before they flew into Iraq and Afghanistan. And that was an incredible opportunity.”

While it was not required for her to accompany the officers on their missions, Mallette requested to join them on one. She wanted to go with her team and to experience the mission with them, both to know what it was like and to support them.

Her decision to go influenced the course of her life because of what happened there.

“I kept asking the pilots if I could join them on one of their missions when they went into Iraq or Afghanistan. They kept saying, ‘Lieutenant Mitnaul, this is dangerous. I don’t know why you want to do this. Stay in Germany.’ I was like, ‘No, I want to be a part of this flight with you.’ They finally said yes to having me accompany them on a mission. I gave them their intelligence briefing. I told them that we expected to receive fire as we attempted to land at a base in Iraq.

“So I sat in the cockpit in one of the seats behind the pilots, and sure enough, we got shot at as we were trying to land. And on the one hand, I was like, I gave a correct and accurate briefing. And they maneuvered how they needed to. But on the other hand, I was like, we just got shot at – maybe I should reconsider being an intelligence officer.

“And then I thought, let me go back to that legal studies degree. I always wanted to go to law school, so I took the LSAT in Germany.”

That year, Mallette took the LSAT and applied to law school, but she was not yet able to attend. Because of the need for intelligence officers, she was asked to wait one year before leaving her position. The following year, she applied to law school, as well as to a scholarship with the Funded Legal Education Program, which offers financial awards to an officer who is in the Air Force and who plans to be trained for an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate position.

One scholarship was offered that year; Mallette was the recipient.

“I was still on active duty, so every summer my internships were at JAG offices at Air Force bases. The first summer, I worked at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, and the second summer I interned at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.”

Mallette had long been interested in the law as a way to improve others’ lives, especially the lives of those who are from other countries and who may need legal advice and support.

“My grandfather was in the Army, and he was stationed in Japan and met and married my grandmother, who was Japanese. My grandma gave birth to my father in Japan, moved back to the United States, and when she moved here, from stories they told me, she struggled as an immigrant, as someone who didn’t speak English well, and someone who didn’t really understand the law or situations that were happening in this country. I just always have had a heart for helping people understand things from a legal perspective.”

When she became an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, it was a position that gave her opportunities to represent others in a wide range of cases – to help them understand and remedy their situation from a legal perspective, so that they could move forward and execute their job duties as military members.

“Air Force JAGs are prosecutors first, but also general practice attorneys. I could have been prosecuting a child sexual assault case on Monday and Tuesday, and then, Wednesday, drafting wills for airmen, and Thursday, advising commanders on their ethical obligations, for example, whether they were allowed to wear their uniform when they attended a Boy Scouts dinner. It was really varied, and I enjoyed it very much.”

But during the summer after her graduation from UNC School of Law, Mallette’s path took a curve she had not anticipated. She began experiencing a number of painful symptoms. Doctors at Duke University Hospital would go on to diagnose her with narcolepsy and small fiber neuropathy. As a result, she was medically retired from the military.

“I was really devastated at first, but then realized that there was a different plan for me. I couldn’t see it at the time, though.”

Now, five years later, she is an attorney with McGuireWoods, where she specializes in product liability claims, complex civil litigation, environmental litigation, and medical malpractice claims. A significant portion of Mallette’s practice is representing providers in hospitals, dentists, and certified public accountants (CPAs). She also assists veterans in pro bono work – in some cases, helping veterans who have retired from the military for medical reasons. She joined the firm in 2018, following her position as a Law Clerk to Associate Justice Barbara Jackson in the North Carolina Supreme Court.

How does Mallette draw on her service and work in the Air Force in her current position?

“I feel like my work is really valuable and reminds me of the value that I found when I was in the JAG Corps. An airman would come to my office and need help with some sort of legal issue, and then, I would help her solve that problem so that she could then go back out onto the flight line and turn wrenches on the jet or actually fly the plane, or do whatever her job was, so I could clear her head of those legal issues.

“That is why I find a lot of value in representing the hospitalists, providers, doctors, dentists and CPAs, because I try to help resolve their legal issues so they can go out and then do their actual jobs of helping or healing people.”

As part of her pro bono work, she helps veterans, and is thankful for the opportunity.

What are the most critical needs of veterans in her community?

Mallette lists three primary areas.

“I think a lot of veterans deal with PTSD and don’t really want to call it that because of the stigma that’s attached. I know that the homeless population of veterans is extensive also. Finally, the VA benefits process can be difficult to navigate, but obtaining those benefits is a critical need. So I would say that those are the three biggest needs: mental health resources, housing resources, and obtaining VA benefits.”

“As an attorney, I know folks who work in the mental health area and in the housing and homelessness area, but I try to work on that third prong – that of obtaining VA benefits, and that’s really important to me because it’s something that I had to fight for myself because I am medically retired. I have a Veterans Affairs disability pension that comes to me that I had to frankly fight for.”

To help veterans, Mallette engages in pro bono work by joining forces with other attorneys across the United States.

“I do my pro bono work as an attorney through this awesome national program called the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP). They’re based in D.C. I have taken three cases with them now. Because there are veterans all over the country who need help obtaining their VA benefits, they partner with law firms like mine. And I’m really grateful because McGuireWoods has fully supported my pro bono work, and the NVLSP has an excellent pro bono program for veterans.”

She describes the process as a collaborative one.

“I meet a veteran who is vetted by the NVLSP, and then, they send the case to me with the subset of medical records. I draft the brief asking the appropriate court in D.C. to review their records. I’m arguing for them to either have an increased disability rating or upgraded service characterization, or their narrative reason for separation to be changed, because some of those things are actual barriers for them to secure VA benefits.

“I’m able to articulate arguments on behalf of these veterans with the help of the NVLSP. With every case, I get assigned a supervising attorney in the NVLSP, someone who does these cases full-time. It’s great to have that resource as well. Together, we all ask this court to help these veterans in this way to increase their VA benefits, upgrade their service characterization, or change the reason for separation.”

“It’s nice to have an assigned attorney who does these cases full-time to coach you through the process. They send you sample briefs. It is seamless, but it does take a long time to meet the veteran and go through the records and all that. But it’s so valuable. And the process is still quite slow, unfortunately, for the VA to respond. But I have heard back from one of my cases, and we got what we asked for. The veteran’s service characterization was upgraded, and his disability rating was increased, and he now has increased benefits, and he is very grateful. It’s truly a life-changing decision.”

Mallette’s own experience with retiring from the military for medical reasons has helped her to be able to relate to and assist veterans, so that they can obtain the benefits they need.

In an open case she is working on, a veteran was injured during his military service, but the events surrounding his injury and its aftermath were not documented properly. As a consequence of events that followed, the officer left the military with an unfavorable service characterization. The veteran wants to be able to work for Veterans Affairs as a social worker, but because of his current characterization, he is not eligible.

Mallette and the team conducted research regarding the events leading up to the service characterization. In the brief, they argued that the veteran had been injured during his service and as a result of extenuating circumstances related to the aftermath of his injury, the characterization should be amended.

“There’s a story behind every airman’s experience.”

“We were able to ask – and that’s the one we’re actually drafting right now – to ask the court to change his reason for separation to something more favorable, so that he can work for the VA.”

She explains that a veteran’s service characterization is an important part of their record, as the characterization can have an influence on their future employment.

In addition to their service characterization, another significant factor is a veterans’ disability rating. On August 10, 2022, the PACT ACT, a key legal decision for veterans, was signed into law. It may help veterans to change their disability rating as the law lists more than 20 specific medical conditions that qualify veterans to receive benefits.

Mallette, who wrote a blog post on the significance of the act, explains why disability ratings are crucial for determining need, and how the law will help veterans to qualify for these ratings.

“To get a VA disability rating, each medical condition has to be connected to your military service. So for a lot of these issues, you have to demonstrate that being in the military, your actual service, is what caused or exacerbated this medical condition. But now, the PACT Act has allowed for 23 ‘presumptive conditions.’

“What that means is the military is automatically going to assume or presume that being in the military is what caused this health issue. That’s called a presumptive condition, so you don’t have to go to any lengths to get an evaluation from a doctor or documentation. If you just meet the service requirement for the presumption, then it has been established by law or regulation that you have that condition. And that means that it was caused by your military service.”

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