Westmont veteran employs legal skills in military, civilian life

Setting his sights on law school after college, Dan Lacy also knew early on that he wanted to work in the government in some capacity.

Raised in Westmont, Lacy grew up hearing about his dad’s service in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.

After graduating from Valparaiso University in 2006, Lacy attended John Marshall Law School, now UIC John Marshall Law School, and graduated in 2010.

In 2011, Lacy received a master of laws in information technology and privacy law from UIC John Marshall Law School.

Still, he aspired to help veterans.

During law school, Lacy was instrumental in starting the Veterans Legal Support Clinic on campus, a group that provides free legal assistance to veterans.

“We would help disabled vets to ensure they were receiving their veterans’ benefits,” Lacy said. “Working with veterans every day reaffirmed it is something I really wanted to do. I also wanted to work in the government in some manner and the United States Reserves were a great way to do that.”

During his time in law school, Lacy also volunteered at the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command, which aims to evaluate military service applicants based on Department of Defense standards. Now, he works there.

Throughout his career, Lacy has balanced working as a lawyer with the U.S. Army Reserves, teaching law school courses and working as a lawyer in a civilian capacity.

First commissioned to the reserves in 2012 as a first lieutenant, Lacy completed the Judge Advocate course in May 2013.

After that, he joined the 91st Legal Operations Detachment of the Army Reserves. In that role, Lacy was responsible for “any type of legal assistance claim” from a member of the military.

Lacy aided in the creation of wills and other legal matters of servicemen and women who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We would help to make sure that wills were up to date or helped create them,” he said.

Lacy also assisted those who were deployed to ensure that credit card interest rates were lowered, something that was required by law.

In 2015, Lacy returned to the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command, serving the command labor counsel.

Lacy served with the 420th Engineering Brigade in College Station, Texas, where he later served as the brigade judge advocate, responsible for providing timely, accurate legal advice, service and support for about 10,000 troops.

In 2021, Lacy took on a role with the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps with the 416th Theater Engineering Command in Darien, a role he recently completed.

There are sacrifices that come along with serving, he said.

Sometimes you miss family events in addition to just time with family, even in the Reserves, Lacy said.

Joining the Westmont American Legion about a year and a half ago, Lacy has offered his services to help fellow veterans who may need legal services.