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Craig's "choice Of Representation" For Veterans Bill Picks Up Support

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Guest allanopie

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Guest allanopie

NEWS FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

CRAIG'S "CHOICE OF REPRESENTATION" FOR VETERANS BILL PICKS UP SUPPORT --

Legislation seeks to overturn 150 year-old prohibition on hiring lawyers

Craig's legislation seeks to change a policy prohibiting attorneys from

representing veterans -- a policy which began during the Civil War.

Image courtesy the U.S. Social Security Administration

June 8, 2006

Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) Legislation to allow veterans to hire an attorney as

they seek benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs picked up

strong support Thursday. The positive reaction came during a hearing of

the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The legislation (S. 2694), sponsored by Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho),

seeks to overturn a policy begun during the Civil War.

Under current law, all 24 million living veterans are prohibited from

hiring legal counsel to help them navigate the Veterans Affairs system.

It is only after a veteran has spent months and even years exhausting

the extensive VA administrative process that the veteran then may retain

a lawyer - a process that often takes 3 or more years to complete.

"Particularly for veterans of today's All-Volunteer Force, the current

paternalistic Civil War-era law is completely outdated. These

highly-trained, highly skilled veterans have the ability - and should

have the right - to decide for themselves whether to hire a lawyer,"

Craig said.

The Idaho Republican noted that many veterans have written in support of

the bill, including one from New Jersey, a decorated disabled military

retiree who served in Vietnam. He wrote:

"Murderers, rapists and pedophiles can hire an attorney; why are

veterans treated as third, yes third class citizens?"

Among those who spoke out Thursday in favor of changing the law was

former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans

Claims, Donald Ivers, as well as Rick Weidman of the Vietnam Veterans of

America and Barton F. Stichman of the National Veterans Legal Services

Program.

"Freedom to seek counsel of one's choice has long been a hallmark of

this nation's system of justice. That those who have given much in

defense of that system are denied that freedom in pursuing claims

arising out of their service is, at best, highly contradictory," Judge

Ivers said.

Under current federal laws and court rulings, criminal defendants,

illegal aliens, and enemy combatants have the right to have legal

counsel. Veterans are the only group which does not enjoy that

privilege.

"It makes no rational sense to deny them this right," Stichman said.

That sentiment was shared by Rick Weidman, who spoke to the committee on

behalf of those in his organization.

"Vietnam Veterans of America strongly and unreservedly supports S.2694

by convention resolution," Weidman said. "We urge its endorsement by

this committee and passage by both houses of Congress."

In the House of Representatives, two bills similar to Sen. Craig's have

been introduced, one (H.R. 5549) by Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of a

subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and (H.R.

4914) Rep. Lane Evans, the top Democrat on that same committee.

Despite the strong support Craig's legislation has received, the

Department of Veterans Affairs voiced opposition to the bill during the

hearing. That drew a strong rebuke from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who

is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Craig.

Other co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX),

who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on the Military Construction

and Veterans Affairs, Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

#####

See this story on-line at: http://veterans.senate.gov

<http://veterans.senate.gov/>

If you want to send Chairman Craig a message, click on: Contact the

Veterans' Affairs Committee

<http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home>

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Guest allanopie

I get a bit confused about things sometimes.

Was'nt Sen. Craig one of the "wrecking crew" Bush has been using to target Vets?

Help is help & it's good to have help from either side of congress. I just don't remember this Sen as being very concerned when it came to Vets benefits.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.............

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My concern about this whole issue is that- where are vets going to find these lawyers who are fully versed in VA regs?

Alex is certainly one of the few lawyers I know who really knows VA law-the rest I know are at VACO or OGC and in orgs like NVLSP- as a matter of fact in the 20 years I have 'known' Alex via the net I haven't met anyone except him and some NVLSP lawyers who really comprehend it all.( and Neil at VACO-one sharp cookie)

And of course these are good lawyers who are always overwhelmed. I dont know how Alex even finds the time for hadit but he has always been in the electronic vets community-I am very grateful for that.

Last year my personal attorney asked me to help him with his VA claim-he is a great lawyer but

he didnt have a clue on 38 CFR-it is not part of GP law or civil and trial matters-

This is something to consider if vets get the right to hire attorneys.Who will they hire?

I personally feel that there is more knowledge right here at hadit than in most law firms around-

only because VA law is not a specialty like estate law and civil matters,etc.

Lawyers interested in helping vets would surely learn the VA regs etc- but -

I think they would depend on the veteran giving them some solid stuff as evidence because it is evidence that wins a claim and a claimant who lacks evidence and hires a lawyer is still faced with getting the medical documentation they need.

Also I believe that a lawyer would want many claimants to get an IMO right from the git go-

another cost to the vet- but a good lawyer wants a preponderance of evidence anyhow.

Lawyers who begin to specialize in VA regs for claims- if this all comes to pass- will probably collect a data base of specialized doctors for those IMOS-

that would make sense-

I love lawyers but they dont have a magic wand-they need the same evidence as a claimant without a lawyer does.I am trying to get a $4,000 reduction in a $8,000 legal fee for a CAVC vet because his lawyers didnt even look at his SMRs where the nexus was-

it was also in his BVA denial- a medical word that I looked up -and it changed his whole claim.

The VA has a specific criteria for payment of CAVC legal fees under an award.

There are ways to challenge the fee. What new criteria would a VARO level fee involve?

Could a vet challenge something that is unreasonable and what fee would be reasonable for a vet to pay for good counsel?

It is heartbreaking to me to see how little this law firm did for the vet I mentioned above- I dont think they had a clue on the nexus factor and did not understand his medical records -if they even looked at them.(but VA wants them to get $8,000 ! )

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Guest jangrin

It is quite possible that the payment system for an attorney might be a percentage based fee, rather than a fee for services. In other words the attorney would get a percentage of the award. Where I live an attorney gets a percent of workers compensation with a maximum of I think 6 percent. ALso, they might set it up like social security as a percentage fee but no fee if the client does not win or succeed at his or her claim. It could be a matter of supply and demand in the beginning and attornies will push for fee for service or hourly rate, that way they make thier money no matter what happens to the vet.

Jangrin

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It is true that there are few lawyers at this point that know VA law. But, I knew nothing of VA law myself, untill I had to learn it.

When attorneys are allowed into the system they will do their home work.

The veteran being his own best advacate theory has to be put to rest. It took me years and more years to learn regs and medical knowledge. At this pace, I was barely able to keep pressure on my claim. Everyone agrees that those of us that cannot learn to be our own best advacates get the short end of the stick. However, even those that agree seem to favor letting those veterans fall through the cracks rather than allowing them to pay someone to get the benifits they deserve.

Very few SO's can or will give personalized attention to a claim. Therefore, veterans like myself are left to do it on there own, WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING IT. I would gladly have paid someone to save me from the stress of trying to figure out how to make the VA see that my disability exsists and is directly related to service. They could not see it on there own.

Sen craig is after votes. I have made sure and will continue to make sure that his local constituents know of his treatment to vets. He is doing this to cover the fact that he votes against funding the VA. Every bill he has been in favor of costs the VA nothing. He supports those and when he tries to reply to my letters in the local paper he he tries to say he has done all these great things for veterans and does not mention that he refuses to fully fund the VA.

Time.

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