Veterans Day spotlight: Continuing to serve at ARS

Military service can shape how people lead and advocate for others in their civilian lives. At Hennepin County’s Adult Representation Services (ARS), attorneys like Chantell Higgins and Carman Leone are using their military experience to help clients with civil legal issues. 

An attorney for ARS in the civil commitment practice area, Higgins spent 25 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. The challenge of the Marines is what drew her in. “If you don't challenge yourself, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you can’t reach your peak potential,” she said.

As a judge advocate general (JAG) officer, Higgins served as a prosecutor, represented victims of sexual assault, led legal teams across the Pacific, and launched the region’s first Victim’s Legal Counsel Program.

One of the greatest challenges of her career came when she represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay—individuals held for years without trial. That experience taught her the importance of standing up for those who have no one else.

“My clients from Guantanamo were confined and didn’t know when it was going to end,” she said. “If I could be there for them and provide support, to show that they are human beings and mean something to somebody, that’s what mattered.”

Now, Higgins brings that same empathy to ARS clients facing civil commitment proceedings. She and her team represent people with mental health issues, chemical dependency, and developmental disabilities, ensuring their well-being and rights are protected.

Her work is grounded in the leadership principles she lived by in the Marines. “It’s about putting others first, being dependable, having courage, making sound decisions,” she said. “All those things go into my practice at ARS, as we serve some of the most vulnerable clients—and they all deserve fair and effective representation.” 

Leone, a principal attorney at ARS and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, also served as a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force. Over more than a decade of active duty, he worked as a prosecutor, defense counsel, legal advisor, and assistant professor of law at the Air Force Academy.

Throughout his military career, Leone was drawn to roles where he supported people through complex and overwhelming legal challenges. “Once I experienced what it was like to walk with people in their darkest times, it changed my entire professional trajectory,” he said.

That calling eventually led him to ARS, where he trains and mentors other attorneys and leads the parent representation practice area, working with parents and guardians in child protection cases.

“ARS clients are often facing more adversity and poverty than those I served in the military,” said Leone. “But the common thread is that when the government is trying to take away a fundamental right, walking with someone through that time—that is sacred to me.”

Published 11/7/25