Coombs expands service to veterans in crisis

UB School of Law faculty member David Coombs has been appointed to the advisory committee of the Veterans Treatment Courts for the State of New York, a specialized court program designed to help veterans struggling with substance abuse and mental health challenges.

The advisory committee’s work includes initiatives to help the courts become more effective in promoting veterans’ recovery; raise awareness about the specialized courts and the unique needs of military veterans; and advocate for the resources these courts need to accomplish their mission.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve on this important committee,” Coombs says. “I am committed to working tirelessly to support our veterans and ensure they receive the care and resources they deserve.”

In addition, Coombs, a former longtime member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps, will oversee a new Veterans Treatment Court (VCT) Externship at the law school that will debut in fall 2024. Established in 2008, the VCT diverts eligible veteran-defendants facing substance dependency and/or mental illness charges to a specialized criminal court docket. Veterans are identified through evidence-based screening and assessments, and voluntarily engage in a judicially supervised treatment plan.

The externship will give second- and third-year law students the opportunity to work with court staff, treatment coordinators, legal aid attorneys, district attorneys and the presiding judge of the VCT in Buffalo, the first such court in New York State. Participating students who are veterans themselves can complete a rotation in the court’s mentor program and work directly with veteran clients.

Currently, 37 veterans treatment courts operate in New York State, including four in the Buffalo-centered Eighth Judicial District.         

“This externship offers a unique opportunity for UB law students to gain valuable firsthand experience working in all aspects of the court,” Coombs says. “An information session on the externship will be conducted in early April for law students who are interested in the program.”

Coombs, who joined the UB Law faculty at the start of the current academic year, teaches Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Military Justice. Before entering academia, he had a distinguished 21-year career in military justice, serving as a prosecutor, defense attorney, professor and defense appellate attorney.

As a JAG Corps litigator, he represented hundreds of soldiers and defended two of the most high-profile and complex cases in military history: United States v. Manning, involving the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks, and United States v. Akbar, a military death penalty case.

In 2023, he was appointed a fellow of the National Institute of Military Justice, the nation’s premier organization devoted to studying and improving the military justice system.