Penelope Gronbeck

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (207) 772-9000 or (800) 524-3339
Practice Area: Veterans Benefits
Bar Admissions: Maine, Minnesota, and U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Memberships: Maine State Bar Association, National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates
Education:  Pitzer College (B.A., 1999); Boston University School of Law (J.D., 2008)

Penny Gronbeck is a Veterans’ benefits attorney at Jackson & MacNichol who has a passion for helping people with disabilities and advancing the cause of social justice.

“As a Veterans’ benefits lawyer, I’m able to hit on both of those fronts, which is very satisfying.” she says.  “I really like being there for those who could use a little help.”

Ms. Gronbeck travels throughout the entire United States representing Veterans who suffer from injuries and illnesses connected to their service in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.  Her clients have fought conflicts ranging from Vietnam to recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You can be entitled to benefits for any service-connected disability, and that can include back pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”), anxiety, depression, or illnesses related to Agent Orange or herbicide exposure, including diabetes, ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease or leukemia,” she says.  “I also represent widows of Veterans who died because of a service-connected injury or disability.”

Ms. Gronbeck says she is inspired by her clients to work hard on their cases and represent them in hearings before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and in the appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

“The people I see have really given everything they had to serve their country,” she says.  “They signed up with the promise that they would be taken care of when they got home.  In too many cases, that’s not what has happened.  My role is to help them get through that and help them receive the benefits they deserve.”  “The experience of working closely with Veterans has been eye-opening,” she says.

“I know some basic military history, but that’s not the same as what the people who actually have served went through in battle,” Gronbeck says. “The media tends to tell the stories about the glory of war.  This is about the trauma.”

Before joining Jackson & MacNichol, Gronbeck graduated with honors from Pitzer College in 1991 with a degree in linguistics.  She earned her law degree from the Boston University School of Law in 2008.  She is admitted to the Maine Bar and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and she is a member of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates (NOVA).

In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, collecting vintage and modern comic books and listening to music.