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-

[betrayed]

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-

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-

Do it, I know there are a couple of class actions going right now I personally have joined and am promoting this class action suit. http://www.betrayedveteran.com/lawsuit.html

I think the more the merrier (SP?)

[Berta]

Ricky- that is very interesting- these lawyers will sure need help-

I have legal background enough to know that lawyers will want one thing -EVIDENCE-

and if the vet does attempt to get what they need- lawyers dont have the time to do that-

I foresee that they will have to reject representation on many claims right away --because if the claim has been in the system for a while and the evidence isn't there or easily available for the vet to get (it gets back to what the VA said they needed on the legal VCAA letter)

lawyers will have to apply triage-

what they are asking you to do- to screen out claims for their potential.

NSOS and Reps have to accept just about every claim they get on their POA.

It is unusal for them to reject a claim.

But I have seen them do it-

My former vet rep had a claimant who he didnt think he could help- with the vets permission he discussed her claim with me-

unfortunately I agreed with him based on what the veteran said was in her SMRs and personnel records.

But he had already told her he could not help her- and my input came after the fact-

still- based on the circumstances I foresaw no chance for her to succeed at all.

Lawyers will need to screen claims and then determine if they are willing to help the vet.

Sometimes lawyers are wrong-many lawyers told me I would never succeed in wrongful death claim and would not help me.

I did it myself. They were wrong because I won.

A SSA lawyer would not support our request for reconsideration of an SSA award.

They gave Rod SSA for Sec 1151 stroke but not for PTSD.

Even SSA tried to discourage us from filing the recon-

4 months later they awarded PTSD SSA and we got 18,000 in SSA retro-

the EED for PTSD was prior to the CVA EED.

Vets might have to shop around to get an attorney to help them-

if their claim is lacking what they need-

they should try to get the evidence now so that a lawyer will want to take their case.

Just my opinion- I won a legal matter recently- and had prepared the whole case and evidence myself.

My lawyer saw it all and said all he had to do was show up in court.

(he filed some legal beagle papers too)

Then he showed up in court. I won.

Lawyers need evidence and nothing changes that facet of proper VA claims resolve.

Edited May 4, 2007 by Berta

[john999]

You know with SSA disability claims it is cut and dried to an extent. Either you are totally disabled or not. Either you have enough quarters under SSA or not. You don't have to show a nexus or an in-service event. You actually go in front of an SSA judge with a lawyer on appeal. The lawyers will have their hands full. Is a lawyer going to hunt down "buddies" and unit records to prove PTSD claims? Maybe but I doubt it. There is so much work just getting a claim together that unless their is tremendous potential for part of a big retro check I still think the vet will do most of the work.

[free_spirit_etc]

I imagine it will take awhile before the lawyers become very involved in this process. It will probably start with lawyers who already handle vet claims at the CVA - or claims for Vet Estates.

Many Social Security lawyers only handle Social Security -- However - I forsee some of the SSA lawyers adding Vet claims. And in time -- it will probably evolve to lawyers who only handle Vet claims.

I imagine they will hire paralegals to do a bulk of the legwork.

I know the VA has been "concerned" that lawyers would clog up the system --filing all sorts of claims -

I don't forsee this being a big problem.

Like with SSA - a lawyer is not going to waste their time on claims they do not think are valid...especially on contigency.

ANd just like SSA -- a person still has the right to go pro-se. But a lawyer will be an asset to a person whose case is not as cut and dry.

And the lawyers will establish a connection for vets to get qualified IMOs -- and will have a stronger voice in making sure the IMOs are afforded the eight they deserve.

I can see where lawyers would be drawn to VA cases -- and the early vets will have to pay the price for that a bit - because of the slowness in the VA system. By the time the case is decided -- IF the vet wins -- the retro can be very large -- and the lawyer's cut will reflect that.

I think in time - this may shift - as lawyer;s involvement might make the VA start getting it right the first time (or even the second or third). -- so the big retros for years and years might decrease.

However, unlike the SSA -- a bulk of the veterans are NOT 100% - so lawyers may not want to spend their time on claims for 10 and 20% SC -- because it is just as much work as a 80 or 100 percent claim -- but much less pay. This would also apply to vets who already have a high percent disability and are going for 100.

If you are at 80% -- getting to 100% is a BIG deal -- but to the lawyer -- it is just a 20% claim.

Free

[john999]

The VA is afraid they will not be able to get in bed with the lawyers the way they have with the service organizations. There are millions of people covered under SSA, and yet it only took me three months to get approved for SSDI. It took two years of appealing to get the VA to rate me IU even after I was granted SSDI and disability retirement under federal civil service. The VA pulled every stunt in the book to delay or deny my TDIU even with a 70% rating. Lawyers can't make the system any worse.

[SLEDGE]

A lawyer will be paid out of the retro you collect plus some kind of up-front fee.

The percentage of disability does not determine how much that the government has screwed you out of so far, the amount of time that you have fought for your rights does.

Right after the civil war lawyers were getting illiterate vets to sign away their monthly check and that prompted congress to make a law that limited the amount that lawyers could collect.

Lawyers today are still limited as to the percentage that they can collect from your retro, not a specific dollar amount.

However, if congress does pass a new limit, there are no limits on dollar amounts right now, on how much money a representative can receive from a client, ie-5,000 bucks, the fact that 'we can engage' a specialized and highly educated lawyer could become a moot point.

And, the VA has yet to announce what kind of new BS that they will throw at us in an effort to discourage lawyers from taking our cases.

Wait and see,

is probably good advice for now.

We have no reason to trust congress or the VA.

sledge