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Lawyer With No Fee..

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broncovet

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  • Moderator

I came across this website where this lawyer claims he represents Vets at the CAVC with no fee.

1. Has anyone used this firm, and how did it work out?

2. If you did not use them, but have knowledge of them, please post this also.

http://www.batesvet.com/links_of_interest.cfm

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Most attorneys, who work before the court, will be free, as they usually are paid under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) but the case must have "some" merit, for them to take it and for them to get paid.

pr

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  • HadIt.com Elder

If you read the "fine print", and understand it's meaning.

The lawyer gets paid by the government, usually from money due the veteran - - - The VA will generally subtract 20% from a veteran's "retro" payment,

(and deduct an administrative fee from the lawyers payment for doing so.)

The EAJA may or may not pay the lawyer, and, the lawyer may or may not charge "incidental" administrative costs.

It's almost universal that the veteran ends up indirectly paying the lawyer.

Remember that 80% of something is far better than 100% of nothing, and a good lawyer can find actionable VA mistakes that the veteran may well miss.

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Chuck...

You may be right about the "fine print". However, when I filed papers at the CAVC (pro se) I got offers from lawyers, at least one of whom also promised that the VA would take care of the fees.

Quoting From the Bates website:

"No Fee for Representation at the Court

Our firm represents veterans — at no cost to the veterans — in their appeals to the Court. If we are successful with your case, we apply to the Court to approve a legal fee to be paid directly and solely by the VA. If your appeal is unsuccessful, there is no legal fee at all."

end of Bates quote.

If this lawyer is being deceptive, not telling us that "legal fees to be paid directly and solely by the VA" means the Veteran pays it, surely he will be ran out of business or worse.

I have run on to this issue before...that is, can the attorney collect BOTH from the EAJA and from the Veteran, and the answer appears to be no. The COURT has to approve lawyers fees, and if you do a search on the CAVC website, you will find numerous disputes where the VA and the attorney representing the Veteran dont agree on how much it should cost. Here is ONE example of the VA and the Vets attorney arguing about the fees. It would seem the attorney was paid and it does not appear any of that came out of the Vets pocket:

http://search.vetapp.gov/isysquery/98c10c5b-270a-4178-8d41-5868eb06760d/1/doc/PouliotDT_07-3528E.pdf#xml=http://cavc-isys1.cavc.adir/isysquery/98c10c5b-270a-4178-8

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  • HadIt.com Elder

The atty cannot get paid by both. I believe, if they lose, they apply to the Court for EAJA funding and if they win they get paid by the VA, as the court would assign legal fees and court costs to the loser/VA. My atty won a remand, by the court and requested EAJA funding, which the court approved.

pr

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PR...

Correct..the attorney cant get both. However, I think it may be possible for the attorney to get paid eaja fees from the CAVC, for a remand, but then get money from another court, such as the federal court, if that applies.

In Pouliot, (cited below) the judge said,

On February 9, 2009, Donald T. Pouliot filed through counsel an application pursuant to the

Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), for attorney fees in the amount of

$17,276.96 and costs in the amount of $277.77. In an April 27, 2009, response, the Secretary

conceded that Mr. Pouliot was a prevailing party and that the Secretary's position was not

substantially justified.

It would appear the judge defined the critera for an award of EAJA fees.

1. Veteran is the "prevailing party", that is the Vet won at least a remand.

2. The Secretary position was not substantially justified.

This would mean that the judge awarded attorney fees, so the Vet did not pay anything.

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