Fate of Millions of Veterans’ Educational Benefits Lies With Supreme Court

FROM LEFT: Carson Cox, Sean Dutton, Misha Tseytlin, David DePippo, Jim Rudisill, Timothy McHugh, Abbey Thornhill, Kevin LeRoy, and Trey Smith.

WASHINGTON – 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 today. 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.

About Troutman Pepper
Troutman Pepper is a national law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys strategically located in 23 U.S. cities. The firm’s litigation, transactional, and regulatory practices advise a diverse client base, from startups to multinational enterprises. The firm provides sophisticated legal solutions to clients’ most pressing business challenges, with depth across industry sectors, including energy, financial services, health sciences, insurance, and private equity, among others. Learn more at troutman.com.

About Dominion Energy
About 7 million customers in 15 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to providing reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy every day and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.