Category: Military Law Practice & Training

Info and resources for attorneys and law students

Lawsuit prompts modification of DoD dissent instruction relating to National Guard

CPT Alan Kennedy protests the killing of George Floyd

The following press release refers to a case in which MLTF member James M. Branum was one of the two attorneys representing Captain Kennedy. Read the National Guard memorandum (PDF): See previous stories on this case at Military Times and on our…Read More »

CLE Training: The Limits of the Illegal Orders Defense and Possible Alternative Protections Under Military Law during the 2020 Presidential Election and its aftermath

Picture of young national guard troops marching, carrying weapons. Text below reads, "The Limits of the Illegal Orders Defense and Possible Alternative Protections Under Military Law during the 2020 Presidential Election and its aftermath"

Topic/Background: During the last four years of the Trump administration, we have seen a growing use of military units in politicized ways against civilian populations in this country, including in the deployments to the US border and the more recent deployments of…Read More »

CLE Training: Help National Guard members avoid deployment against anti-racist protesters in US cities

CLE Training: Helping National Guard members avoid deployment against anti-racist protesters in US cities.

NOTE: This CLE (continuing legal education) seminar is free to watch at the link below. If you wish to receive a certificate showing you completed the course and CLE credits for attorneys (see below for details), please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArdeygqzguG9H0ltlNBkabnHKNS-E-HI2P…Read More »

Free Resources on Military Law

Thanks to Global Military Justice Reform for information about the following books: The Military Commander and the Law (2019) comes from the US Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School and is designed as both as a commanders’ course book and a reference…Read More »

2019 UCMJ Changes– a Summary

BY JAMES M. BRANUM In this article, I will be providing a short summary of what I think are the most important changes of the historic 2019 revision of the UCMJ. This treatment will not be exhaustive but will instead serve as…Read More »

Military Criminal Law

(Use the button to download a PDF version of this memo for offline reading/printing.) by James R. Klimaski Rev. 2018 September Military criminal law reflects the constraints of military service. Although service members enjoy basic constitutional rights, they are also subject to…Read More »

Understanding and Dealing with Defenses, Mitigation, Extenuation and Aggravation for US Military Absence Offenses – Part 1

by James M. Branum Introduction It is easy for attorneys to get into ruts, to assume that we understand everything that we need to know to do our jobs. But for maximum effectiveness as an advocate, we often need to get out…Read More »

Cushing v. Tetter:[1] Still a Good Tool in the Box

By Alison Carter This article was published in the Spring 2016 issue of On Watch. This article explores a goldmine of findings in a 1979 federal district court case where an active duty Navy airman, alleging suicidal tendencies, successfully argued for a…Read More »