The nation’s highest court will now decide whether millions of veterans are eligible to receive expanded educational benefits as oral arguments in Rudisill v. McDonough concluded. The case was brought by FBI Special Agent James R. Rudisill, a decorated U.S. Army veteran, against the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) and seeks to resolve how many months of educational benefits a veteran is entitled to under two different GI Bills.
Eight years ago, Timothy McHugh, of Troutman Pepper, and David DePippo, of Dominion Energy, began representing Mr. Rudisill pro bono. Now before the U.S. Supreme Court, Troutman Pepper attorneys Misha Tseytlin, Kevin LeRoy, Abbey Thornhill, Trey Smith, Sean Dutton, and Carson Cox, among others, joined the team to support Mr. Rudisill’s, and many other veterans’ cause.
“It was an honor to argue this case, which is deeply important to many of the country’s long-serving military veterans, just a few days before Veterans Day,” said Tseytlin, who argued the case before the Supreme Court.
“Our team has never wavered in our commitment to ensure the VA follows the law and provides veterans with the educational benefits that Congress intended they receive,” said DePippo, who is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran.
“Today’s arguments were a culmination of a long, hard-fought, eight-year battle. We could not be prouder of Jim for first raising his hand when he saw something wrong here, trusting us to help him, and for seeing the case through,” added McHugh, who is a U.S. Army veteran.
Rudisill v. McDonough centers on the VA’s interpretation of certain administrative provisions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill that Congress enacted in 2008 to provide “enhanced educational benefits” far more generous than the then-prevailing peacetime Montgomery GI Bill. Congress passed the bill in recognition of the “especially arduous” wartime service required of veterans since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“It was important for me to see this case through to the very end because I did not want to give up on obtaining the benefits I earned, and making sure the same is true for all my fellow veterans. We deserve what was promised,” Mr. Rudisill said. “I am grateful to my pro bono legal team who has been by my side every step of the way.”
The Court is expected to decide the case by its summer recess next year. If Troutman Pepper and Dominion Energy prevail, Mr. Rudisill and approximately 1.7 million (and counting) post-9/11 veterans could be eligible to receive expanded education benefits valued at potentially billions of dollars.
Original source can be found here.