Daniel Nagin

Daniel Nagin

Clinical Professor of Law

Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education

Faculty Director, WilmerHale Legal Services Center & Veterans Legal Clinic

WilmerHale Legal Services Center
122 Boylston St

617-390-2560

Assistant: Ebony Griffin / 617-390-2564

Biography

Daniel Nagin is Clinical Professor of Law, Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education, and Faculty Director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center, a community-based public interest law firm home to five Harvard Law School civil practice clinics. He is also Faculty Director of the Legal Service Center’s Veterans Legal Clinic, which he founded in 2012. His teaching and research interests focus on clinical education, social welfare law and policy, veterans law, and delivery of legal services. 

Previously, Nagin was on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he founded and directed a public benefits clinic and taught anti-poverty law courses. Nagin has also taught in the clinical program at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, directed a social service and legal advocacy program for homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS, and worked as a staff attorney in the Queens office of Legal Services NYC.

Among his recognitions, Nagin has received the John G. Brooks Legal Services Award from the Boston Bar Association, the Goldberg v. Kelly Lives Award from the Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference, and the Access to Equal Justice Award from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Nagin’s current activities include serving on the Executive Committee of the Section on Poverty Law of the American Association of Law Schools, the Judicial Advisory Committee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the Legal Services Corporation's Veterans Task Force.

Nagin holds a B.A. in History and Government, Phi Beta Kappa and with distinction in all subjects, from Cornell University, an M.A. from Stanford University, and a J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he received the Edwin F. Mandel Award for excellence as a clinical law student.

Areas of Interest

  • Clinical Legal Education
  • Administrative Law: Veterans Benefits
  • Poverty Law
  • Poverty Law: Social Welfare Law and Policy
Daniel L. Nagin, Goals v. Deadlines: Notes on the VA Backlog, 10 U. Mass. L. Rev. 50 (2015).
Categories:
Government & Politics
Sub-Categories:
Military & Veterans Law
Links: 
Type: Article
Abstract
Drawing primarily on policy considerations, social science research, and the relevant statutory and doctrinal frameworks within veterans benefits law, this article argues that Congress should subject the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to a clear and enforceable deadline for making initial eligibility determinations on claims for service-connected compensation. Despite widespread media coverage of delays in VA’s adjudication system and countless oversight hearings and congressional proposals for reform, this simple idea – to impose a hard deadline upon VA has either been overlooked entirely or drowned out by a preoccupation with other types of legislative responses to the VA claims backlog. This article seeks to enter the debate about remedying the backlog from a slightly different vantage point than the perspectives used to date, one that focuses on the nature of deadlines – including the psychology of deadlines, the enforcement of deadlines, and the role deadlines might play in promoting perceptions of agency fairness and legitimacy. Along the way, the article draws on VA’s own data to reveal the long-standing gap between the agency’s timeliness goals and its performance. The reform proposed here is admittedly modest in many respects; it is far from a cure all for delay. But it does reflect certain fundamental values that should animate any reforms to the VA system: expanding enforcement tools, applying lessons learned from past VA failures, and treating veterans with dignity.
Daniel L. Nagin, The Credibility Trap: Notes on a VA Evidentiary Standard, 45 Memphis L. Rev. 887 (2015).
Categories:
Government & Politics
Sub-Categories:
Military & Veterans Law
Type: Article
Abstract
An essay is presented which explores the dimensions of traditional evidence law for the realm of veterans benefits. It mentions the creditability of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regarding the veterans challenge on the adverse decisions on judicial review. It also mentions the current system framework of VA fulfill the program's fundamental goal of accurately efficiently compensating veterans for service-connected injuries.
Daniel L. Nagin, Repeat Performances and Learning by Transfer, 19 Law Tchr. 6 (2012).
Categories:
Legal Profession
Sub-Categories:
Legal Education
Links: 
Type: Article
Daniel L. Nagin, CLE Presenter, Representing Veterans in Discharge Upgrade Cases, Bos. Bar Ass'n (June 2, 2015).
Categories:
Government & Politics
Sub-Categories:
Military & Veterans Law
Type: Presentation
Abstract
CLE Presenter, Representing Veterans in Discharge Upgrade Cases
Daniel L. Nagin, Co-Chair and CLE Presenter, Veterans Benefits, MCLE New England, Bos., Mass. (Oct. 7, 2014).
Categories:
Government & Politics
,
Health Care
Sub-Categories:
Military & Veterans Law
,
Disability Law
Type: Presentation
Abstract
Veterans and servicemembers are increasingly in need of assistance from civilian counsel. After September 11th enlistments skyrocketed—National Guard and Reserve members have been and are being mobilized, deployed, and returned to their civilian lives and jobs, while many retirees have been recalled to active duty. Many have been medically discharged or discharged based upon retirement or fulfilling their military obligation. A small minority are discharged based on alleged misconduct. Despite their history of service, many veterans still struggle to collect the benefits to which they are entitled. It is estimated that one third of Americans are eligible for some kind of veterans benefit, yet the number of Americans collecting is far smaller. To properly advocate for your client, you must be familiar with the veterans benefits system and the two major income-based benefit programs for disabled veterans and their families. You should understand the Department of Veterans Affairs adjudication process, and how best to advocate within that process.
Daniel L. Nagin, Program Chair, Boston Bar Association, Representing Military Personnel and Veterans Series, Veterans Benefits: "Interaction of VA and SSDI/SSI Benefits, Access to VA Healthcare, and Massachusetts Veterans’ Services Benefits," Bos. Bar Ass'n. (Nov. 21, 2013)
Categories:
Government & Politics
,
Health Care
Sub-Categories:
Military & Veterans Law
,
Disability Law
Type: Presentation
Abstract
This panel will provide an introduction to the complex web of benefits and services available to veterans, their families, and survivors. Topics to be covered include VA service-connected disability benefits, VA pension, VA survivor's benefits, VA healthcare, other VA-administered benefit programs, and Massachusetts Veterans' Services Benefits. The interplay between VA benefits and Social Security benefits will be addressed, as will the ways that military discharge character of service can impact access to veterans' benefits and services. The panel will also discuss advocacy strategies for representing clients before agencies and in court.
Daniel L. Nagin, Co-Presenter, Concurrent Workshop Session, Mind the Gap: (Re)Designing Clinical Teaching to Serve Cross-Generational Student and Community Needs, AALS Conf. on Clinical Legal Educ., Los Angeles, CA (May 1, 2012).
Categories:
Legal Profession
Sub-Categories:
Legal Education
,
Clinical Legal Education
Type: Presentation
Abstract
Co-Presenter, Concurrent Workshop Session, Mind the Gap: (Re)Designing Clinical Teaching to Serve Cross-Generational Student and Community Needs, AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education
Daniel L. Nagin, Judicial Review of Unemployment Insurance Decisions, Advanced Unemployment Insurance Law, Proceedings of the Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference (2011).
Categories:
Labor & Employment
,
Discrimination & Civil Rights
Sub-Categories:
Public Interest Law
,
Employee Benefits
Type: Presentation
Abstract
Judicial Review of Unemployment Insurance Decisions, Advanced Unemployment Insurance Law, Proceedings of the Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference
Daniel L. Nagin, Judicial Review Under Article of 5 of the Virginia Administrative Process Act: Using the Virginia Administrative Process Act to Protect the Rights of Low-Income Clients, Proceedings of the Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference (Nov. 2010).
Categories:
Discrimination & Civil Rights
Sub-Categories:
Poverty Law
,
Public Interest Law
Type: Presentation
Abstract
Judicial Review Under Article of 5 of the Virginia Administrative Process Act: Using the Virginia Administrative Process Act to Protect the Rights of Low-Income Clients, Proceedings of the Virginia Statewide Legal Aid Conference

Current Courses

  • Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinic, Fall 2020
  • Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinic, Spring 2021
  • Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinical Seminar, Fall 2020

Course Catalog View

WilmerHale Legal Services Center
122 Boylston St

617-390-2560

Assistant: Ebony Griffin / 617-390-2564