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The VSB Military Law Section has named David J. DePippo, managing counsel at Dominion Energy, and Timothy L. McHugh, partner at Troutman Pepper Locke, as the 2025 recipients of the Military and Veterans Law Pro Bono Award. The award seeks to recognize those members of the VSB "who diligently protect those who protect and serve to protect our nation."

Both men are recognized for their pro bono service after arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Rudisill v. McDonough. This case concerned the rights of veterans to use both the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) and the Post-9/11 GI Bill (PGIB) educational benefits. On April 16, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that veterans with separate periods of qualifying service can use either benefit, in any order, up to the 48-month aggregate cap. The case was brought by Richmond FBI Special Agent and U.S. Army veteran James Rudisill.

Troutman Pepper Locke nominated both DePippo and McHugh for the Military and Veterans Law Pro Bono Award following the result of this case.

DePippo had a private practice before working as in-house counsel, handling cases on environmental, energy, natural resources, and mining law at Hunton Andrews Kurth and Gallagher & Kennedy. He has practiced veterans' pro bono work for more than 10 years, and before that, his pro bono practice focused on immigration matters. DePippo was a petty officer in the United States Coast Guard.

McHugh draws on more than 15 years of legal and military experience to advise a diverse client base on complex administrative law issues before agencies, commissions, and courts throughout the U.S. He argued before an en banc court of appeals, obtained a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, and worked on other precedent-setting administrative law cases.

McHugh served as a paratrooper and noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, where he led an airborne infantry squad in combat. His awards include the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal for Valor. He was deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. 

The Military and Veterans Law Pro Bono Award will be presented at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.