Lawyers

[Berta]

Has anyone approached any of your personal lawyers to see if they would be willing to handle veterans claims under the Lawyers for Vets regs? (they havent been posted yet)

I have a matter with my new lawyer and in the cover letter I asked him also if he would consider representing vets- my regular lawyer went to Florida- A Vietnam vet with 2 PHs but I had to help him with his VA claim so he probably could not have handled other vets claims-unless I helped him-

I dont know if my new lawyer is willing to do this- he will probably need a lot of help too ---from any claimant he represents-

and if he does this I sure will get him here at hadit for the nitty gritty-maybe even someone else in his firm would handle vet claims -dont know yet-they are still in process of moving to Bath NY from Penn Yan.

Lawyers dont deal with 38 USC much in law school and it all changes from year to year-

Have any of you found any lawyers that are even aware of this new law?

I mentioned in another post I was considering something to benefit a non profit vets org-

my money, along with their willingness to support some issues.

Of course the best of all is NVLSP. I havent donated to them in a long time.

But I also am considering maybe instead -a Class Action suit against VA due to violations of the VCAA-

I will pay all of the legal fees but I am more concerned about if my lawyer can help with that than even help wth my claim after June-

Have any of you found lawyers who would be willing on contingency to help prosecute your claims after June?

Things have changed so much with VA lately- the data theft, the Walter Reed fiasco, numerous other issues-that it seems to be the time is ripe for vets to do enough to make a difference.

And the Fed Register site alone offers anyone the right to comment on proposed VA regs-

a vet or widow is clicks away from having input into the way the VA does business as far as the regs go.

There are two proposed regs there now- and comment time is closing by May 12th I think-

[Josephine]

John999,

Well said.

Josephine

[vaf]

Berta, I posed this question to the attorney handling my husband's then pending case before the Court. I had mentioned that I thought we'd be able to hire attorney representation after this June, once a claim had been denied at the VA Regional Office level. His response was, "Yes, the law is changing and nobody knows exactly how it will work. To my knowledge, VA hasn't drafted any implementing regulations. We haven't figured out exactly how we're going to handle it, either. Cases will have to be screened much more carefully because our decisions to take them will be based on much less information, i.e. no BVA decision,than we have had in the past. (We will still be under the no win - nopay regime, so screening is important.) In your case, I think we would

most likely take the additional claims in any event since we have the

others going."

Has anyone received a significantly different response?

Josephine, I can tell you that my husband's attorney said that the Appeals Management Center will not allow my husband to hire an attorney for his pending remands there. Here's his response to my question on that exact subject when I asked it:

"Alas, the AMC will not keep any claim where the claimant has an attorney. The AMC was set up to process remanded claims “quickly” and a number of types of claims were carved out, e.g., where there is an educational loan involved, as well as where there is an attorney. (There are something like 15 exceptions.) I think the reasoning was that anything that might potentially complicate the claim was cause for exception. So the claims we handled at the court will be transferred to the RO and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. The only alternative would be for you to handle them going forward by yourself."

"

[Josephine]

vaf,

Thanks so much. I thought that this may be the answer and it does make logical sense. Just another complication to add to the claim.

From what I have been told from the AMC, all issues have been settled in my claim and it is now ready to rate.

I am hoping for an answer perhaps this month. Just not sure.

I know that the AMC transmitted some issues to the BVA to settle and it was then returned to the rating board.

Good news or Bad news don't know.

I have used so much advice from this board, that I do believe that someone is now "finally" reading my claim.

At least they have recognized that there is indeed a buddy letter in my file, although it is not mentioned in the remand.

Actually, I find a lot of things not mentioned at all in the remand.

I really don't know what a remand is susposed to look like, but mine reads nothing like the BVA cases that I have read.

Thanks so much,

Josephine

[Berta]

VAF- good point-

we (to include lawyers who will help vets after June)

still have no idea how these regs will be implemented and what they will involve.

The initial bills in the Senate and Congress seemed to involve all claimants with a NOD filed already and with a claim pending-

That would cover remands as well as all claims pending on the VARO Monday Morning reports-

(I think)

Lawyers will have to select what claims they will support.

They are not obligated to handle anyones claim.

That is why claimants should try to send VA every bit of evidence they have-

so that-if they do seek a lawyer, the lawyer will want to represent them.

Of course anyone denied at the BVA level does have the right to get counsel and if the CAVC case is on the public docket-you will hear from CAVC lawyers in the mail-

John- I wonder if many SSA lawyers in the country are doing the same thing-

Unlike most civil attorneys they already know a lot about disability claims.

In Jan 1998 I walked out of my POAs office in Bath NY never dreaming I would ever be a claimant again.My issues had all been favorably resolved.

Then in 2003, when I filed a new claim-I counted on the new DTA regs to help me avoid the last 3 year plus ordeal on my other claims.

I was so wrong-the VCAA of 2000 is implemented for some claimants but not all-

as the BVA web site reveals-

I see that as the biggest problem with claims today and I also see lawyers pouncing on improper VCAA letters as soon as they are mailed to the veteran-

at least I hope they do-

[Pete53]

My guess is the VA is not going to make this easy.

[Ricky]

I spoke to a local attorney and he asked me if I wanted a job as a consultant. The duties would be to review claims and provide him with a recommendation as to their winability.