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Finding A Good Attorney - How Is It Done?

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hedgey

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hedgey

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My husband's cousin is looking for an attorney to help take on his claim (well, sort of). He's in upstate NY and has been denied his claim for HTN and GERD as secondary due to medications he takes for his SC back. He also has been diagnosed with PTSD but hasn't filed a claim since he can't face the challenge of pulling together the evidence.

I've told him to get a lawyer, but he says he just doesn't know where to start looking. His VSO is worthless, he says, and he's heard nothing good about the other VSO's available in his area. He's at the end of his rope and says he wants to just let it go, but I can't stand to see him do that!

So what's the best way to find a good, honest, pro-vet attorney? He doesn't have a social network to ask around in, and he says he can't face doing interview after interview.

I can't help him with his case, I have more than I can manage with my own and my husbands... but can anyone help me point him in the right direction?

Let us be kind, one to another, for we are each of us together in our pain.

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JustPLS Community Regular

JustPLS

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Thanks everyone ;)

That's pretty much what my feelings were when he told me his VSO said "slam dunk". I raised an eyebrow, but hope springs eternal, and I thought maybe his VSO knew something the rest of us didn't.

But the question still remains, how does a vet find a good lawyer? How does a vet who has more or less isolated himself for the last some-odd years find one, when he doesn't have a group of friends to ask, or pals down at the VFW? Is there a Veteran's Attorney Registry somewhere? Or is it a matter of opening up the yellow pages and hoping for the best?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm from upstate NY, too. There is an attorney in Syracuse (Jaya A. Shurtliff -Esq. 315-701-5780 jshurtliff@windisability.com) that is listed on the NOVA website. I have no experience with the firm, but I have been researching attorneys up this way too. If your husband's cousin is in upstate NY, he must be near Watertown and Ft Drum. There are a couple NYS Veteran's Affairs reps on Drum that were recommended to me by counselors in the Watertown Vet Center. I have one of them as my POA, but have not had the occasion to use them yet. Good luck!

Pat

I wonder if I would have all the medical conditions that I have now if I had never joined the Army. I'm pretty sure the answer would probably be no. When I look around and see others my age who were not in the service, most of them look pretty healthy.

Do you think all the employees of the VA really understand that it is ONLY because we served that their positions even exist?

'67-'68 1st Cav, '69-'70 101st Abn

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