Now Lawyers Are Trying To Take Us To Court!

[mrsvet28]

Here I am writing for opinions on this: WE won our claim after 12 years pretty much by myself writing letters to Senators and Congressman we had hired a lawyer previous to our DRO hearing who worked for the current ones who are trying to take us to court in a month: Here is a brief sceneario--

We signed a fee agreement they said they couldnt represent us without it

Now they state"they thought we were their friends and never filed the fee agreement" ? "the VA says they never filed the fee agreement/ and then:

I got a letter from the AMC -before the claim was resolved a year and half ago-saying( they )were asking for payment-I said payment for what nothing is closed

They never answered me if they filed for the EAJA

They specified "all monies recovered" and didnt even know how much was due to us in the retro

I asked for an audit from the VA and they should have I think

There is still monies unaccounted for and nothing matches in totals

there is much more to this complicated matter

Now they hired a lawyer to collect from us- we were just enjoying our retirement home-

I am prepared to take them on-

Is this a matter between the VA and them? and why do I have to collect for them

Can they garnish our monthly until the VA pays them ?

all replies welcome Thanks Mrsvet

[Philip Rogers]

I can't answer w/o more facts. If your case was at the CAVC then there would be documentation as to whether EAJA monies were awarded and you could access them online at the CAVC site. I believe unless they filed an agreement w/the CAVC and/or the VA they can't collect anything. It must be approved ahead of time. You may want to check w/your state bar association. They can't garnish anything w/o a court order. Be sure you make all court appearances so they can't win on default.

pr

Edited March 18, 2010 by Philip Rogers

[vperl]

I can't answer w/o more facts. If your case was at the CAVC then there would be documentation as to whether EAJA monies were awarded and you could access them online at the CAVC site. I believe unless they filed an agreement w/the CAVC and/or the VA they can't collect anything. It must be approved ahead of time. You may want to check w/your state bar association. They can't garnish anything w/o a court order. Be sure you make all court appearances so they can't win on default.

pr

***************************************

correct me if I am wrong........

VA compensation cannot be garnished by anyone..........EXCEPT the U.S. Government

[mrsvet28]

I can't answer w/o more facts. If your case was at the CAVC then there would be documentation as to whether EAJA monies were awarded and you could access them online at the CAVC site. I believe unless they filed an agreement w/the CAVC and/or the VA they can't collect anything. It must be approved ahead of time. You may want to check w/your state bar association. They can't garnish anything w/o a court order. Be sure you make all court appearances so they can't win on default.

pr

I have a fee agreement contract signed by us- when I hired them on in 07' the BVA appeals were all done by me back in 04' before they were part of it- it took 4 years to get a DRO hearing after many letters I wrote to the Senators and Congressman-having not knowing what to expect at the Dro hearing-I retained them-however the first atty. was knowledgeable in VA law-he came to the hearing and presented later an addendum to the evidence file- a week or two later he left the practice for something else- then they turned it over to a assistant in the office - who is not a lawyer-

they said originally when we signed the fee agreement they couldnt represent us w/out it. And they told me they sent it in. I asked them if they knew about the EAJA-they never answered my question. According to the Federal Register Vol.73 No.100-Rules and Regs. for fee agreements it states"pg.29872 (iv) TO MAINTAIN ACCREDITATION THEY ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE 3 HOURS TO CLE DURING THE FIRST 12 MONTH PERIOD FOLLOWING THE DATE OF INITAL ACCREDATION BY THE VA AND MUST COVER THE FOLLOWING TOPICS ELIGIBILTY ,RIGHT TO APPEAL,DISABILITY COMPENSATION,DEPENDENCY AND INDEMINITY,AND PENSION,-UPON COMPLETION THEY CERTIFY TO THE OGC IN WRITING AND IT WILL BE SUBMITTED TO VA AS CERTIFICATION.AND THEN ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AN ADDITIONAL 3 HOURS NOT LATER THAN 3 YEARS AFTER THAT DATE AND EVERY 2 YEARS THEREAFTER".

After more letters and phone calls I finally got a BVA hearing in 08'- the 3 reps. the paralegal-the lawyer of the firm-and another lawyer came to the hearing-and presented the claim-

The BVA remanded back to the RO for another CP exam- I called them daily to see what was going on and they were very lax in pursuing it-

I continued to call Congressman and Senators and write letters to push it on a daily basis-ALSO ACCORDING TO

FR 14.630 (2) ACT WITH REASONABLE DILIGENCE AND PROMPTNESS REPRESENTING CLAIMANTS (7) DELAY WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE THE PROCESSING OF A CLAIM AT ANY STAGE

The claim was decided in our favor Nov. 09/ however there is still anotherBV appeal pending for hypertension-and that isnt decided yet.

The state when all monies are recovered and they arent yet- so this is why they havent got paid I beleieve/

They feel we should pay them until the VA does and they'll pay us back- :) when they get paid

It took 12 years for me and mr. to prove this

Are they entitled to 20% of the retro of 5 yrs. previously before we had them-or are they only entitled to the time we hired them w/b 07-09?

When the were ready to go before the BVA hearing if I didnt proofread their document-they had the wrong doctors listed on their papers! and I made them correct it

It never went to the CAVC- it was decided before that/

and why did I get a letter from the AMC about the monies they were requesting before the claim was 2 years from being resolved?

and why didnt they know what the amount of the award was? and when it was wrong I requested and audit -not THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAVE TO GO OUT DOGGIE IS GETTING STITCHES OUT-WILL CHECK BACK LATER

I BELEIVE THE OGC SHOULD HAVE A COPY OF THEIR FEE AGREEMENT-THEY SAID THEY NEVER FILED IT/SO WHY DID WE SIGN ONE TO BEGIN WITH?

[JR Reihs]

If this was never filed with the VA, and approved by the VA then they are SOL.

The VA is VERY strict on this, and you can have this thrown out of court for this reason.IMO, I would file a motion to dismiss as the local court has no jurisdiction over title 38, this issue must be decided by the VA.

[mrsvet28]

If this was never filed with the VA, and approved by the VA then they are SOL.

The VA is VERY strict on this, and you can have this thrown out of court for this reason.IMO, I would file a motion to dismiss as the local court has no jurisdiction over title 38, this issue must be decided by the VA.

I AGREE- AGREE

[mrsvet28]

I can't answer w/o more facts. If your case was at the CAVC then there would be documentation as to whether EAJA monies were awarded and you could access them online at the CAVC site. I believe unless they filed an agreement w/the CAVC and/or the VA they can't collect anything. It must be approved ahead of time. You may want to check w/your state bar association. They can't garnish anything w/o a court order. Be sure you make all court appearances so they can't win on default.

pr

DONT THEY HAVE TO FILE AFTER THE AWARD-AND WHY WOULDNT THE VA WITHOLD THEIR MONEY-IF THEY DIDNT GET PAID WE ARE MISSING$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$