We have you covered
At Markow Law, we are proud to serve those who have served. Attorney Richard Markow has a personal connection to the veteran community and a deep commitment to making sure veterans receive the legal representation and benefits they have earned. If you are a veteran who has been denied benefits, mistreated by a government agency, or simply need an attorney who understands what you have been through, we are here to fight for you.
How We Help Veterans
We assist veterans with a range of legal matters including benefit denials and appeals, civil rights issues, and cases where government agencies have failed to provide the assistance veterans are owed. We understand that navigating bureaucracy can feel like going up against a brick wall. Our job is to break it down.
Fighting for the Forgotten: Frederick Fisher's Story
Frederick Fisher is a Vietnam veteran, Bronze Star recipient, and third-generation farmer from Jonesville, Florida, a community founded by formerly enslaved people. After returning home with a back injury and PTSD, Fisher spent decades working the land his family had farmed for generations, only to be systematically denied USDA assistance that white-owned farms routinely received. That discrimination was precisely what the Pigford v. Glickman civil rights settlement was meant to remedy, including a special Florida medical marijuana license set aside for Black farmers in the Pigford class.
As reported by NPR-affiliate WUFT News, the application process itself became a barrier. The non-refundable fee alone was $146,000, the highest in the country, and the process required vertical integration, legal counsel, technical writers, and significant capital backing. It was, in short, a system designed for the wealthy to compete for a license meant for the poor.
That is where Richard Markow stepped in. Markow, who had met Fisher years earlier while living in veteran housing next door to Fisher’s cousin, knew Fisher qualified for the license and refused to let a broken system stop his client from competing. Markow secured capital investors, navigated the extensive application requirements, and built a legal argument that Fisher met the Pigford class definition even without having filed a prior claim. Fisher’s application was submitted and his story gained regional attention. When his application was rejected, Markow filed an appeal, the same legal strategy that had previously resulted in the vast majority of Florida marijuana licenses being issued after just such challenges.
Fisher’s fight is not over. But because of Markow’s advocacy, a Vietnam veteran who spent a lifetime being told no by the very institutions that were supposed to serve him finally has someone in his corner who knows how to fight back.
Read the full WUFT News story here: A Jonesville man’s story challenges the logic of Florida’s process to award a marijuana license to a Black farmer