Denise Meenan

Practice Area: Veterans Benefits

Bar Admissions: California, United States District Court, Central District of California, Washington State, United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, VA Accredited Attorney

Education: Ottawa University (B.A.), University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (J.D., 1999)

Denise grew up in Southern California, where her family divided time between the city of Pasadena and the mountains of Lake Arrowhead. Denise was raised with a deep respect for our military forces, having several family members who served, including Denise’s father, who was a proud Korean War Veteran. Denise’s son entered military service at age 18 and was recruited to the 101st Airborne Division who he served with in Afghanistan.

Denise’s passion for justice began in law school at the McGeorge Community Legal Services Clinic in Sacramento, California, where she secured housing and benefits for countless numbers of low-income clients. Following law school, Denise continued to work in public interest law serving low-income individuals, the elderly, and victims of domestic violence until 2010 when she accepted a position as a civilian member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps as the Chief of Legal Assistance at the U.S. Army Garrison in Ansbach, Germany, home of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. Denise remained in Germany for the next five and a half years during which time she was recruited to work at the Pentagon on a special one-month assignment in support of the Army’s legal assistance program. Denise’s next duty station was Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington, where she served America’s First Corp (I Corps), a three-star headquarters with over 44,000 soldiers. Her final duty station with the Army was Fort Huachuca, Arizona, home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE) where she was Chief of Client Services. From there she retired and founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity serving Servicemembers and Veterans from all branches of the United States Armed Forces.

In addition to her work for veterans, Denise has provided extensive pro-bono legal services to the Los Angeles County Bar Association Domestic Violence Program, the Harriet Buhai Family Law Center in Los Angeles, the Sacramento Food Bank Mother and Baby Program, the Arizona Supreme Court Foster Care Review Board, and the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. She has been on the board of directors of two public service nonprofits.

As passionate as she is helping others, Denise’s other passion is spending time with her husband, Adam, and their Lab, Kobe, in the great outdoors camping, hiking, boating, off-roading, fishing, snorkeling, and any doing other activity on or near the water.