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Love, law and the desire to defend

Tacoma couple helps with military, civilian legal issues

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"One of the aspects of military life that civilians don't always get is that when you marry a Soldier, the military and your spouse are a package deal," said Heather Straub.

Straub and her husband, Capt. Alex Straub, have been married for almost five years. They met working at a public defender's office in Seattle. Though he was a member of the Washington National Guard, Capt. Straub was inactive at that time and poised to leave for Judge Advocate General (JAG) school.

It wasn't until months later - when she first saw her fiancé in ACUs - that the reality of being married to the military hit home.

"I had not planned to marry a Soldier - or a lawyer, for that matter - but I soon realized that the uniform is an important part of who Alex is," Heather said.

Following JAG school, Capt. Straub was offered an Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) position at Camp Murray, where he still works full time providing day-to-day legal support to commanders and Soldiers mostly in the area of administrative law.

Currently, he is deployed and working as an individual augmentee with 3rd Infantry Division out of Ft. Stewart, Ga.  

"I serve as the Foreign Claims Commissioner for two provinces where I am responsible for adjudicating claims by Afghan nationals alleging personal and property damages caused by U.S. Forces engaged in non-combat activities," Capt. Straub explained via email.

He also works as the contract and fiscal law attorney for the Task Force Vanguard command and provides legal assistance to Soldiers having civilian legal difficulties, from divorce to eviction.

However, sometimes Capt. Straub is faced with an issue that he cannot necessarily handle, whether due to distance or his role as a military officer.  For instance, he was recently contacted via Facebook by a Soldier who was facing problems related to a domestic issue and seeking help. Unfortunately, since there was no crime, the Soldier did not qualify for a public defender, and since the incident wasn't on a military post, he wasn't covered by JAG either.

So Capt. Straub suggested that the client contact a civilian attorney, like his wife.

"While military legal assistance attorneys can provide many services to Servicemembers on civil law matters, civilian attorneys can actually appear in civilian court on behalf of Servicemember clients and generally have far more familiarity with civilian court procedures," he explained. "Consulting a civilian attorney from that jurisdiction can help to provide a higher level of representation to that client."

Case in point, Heather works with numerous military clients at her own practice in Tacoma, where she specializes in criminal defense.

 "I am drawn to work with Servicemembers partly because of my husband and the fact that my father was career Navy," she explained. "Also, in my experience, military clients tend to be great clients. They understand that I respect what they do, and they treat me with that same respect and courtesy. I am motivated to fight hard for them."

Sometimes that fight is more of a challenge since Servicemembers can face more repercussions and penalties than their civilian counterparts, from dishonorable discharge to an interruption of future veteran benefits.

"For a lot of these individuals, losing the ability to call themselves a Soldier is the most important/drastic thing - the military means everything to most of these individuals," said Heather, who offers a steep military discount in order to reach as many in need as she can. "I think if someone takes the time to counsel these guys, they can go on to have a great career."

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