Training Classes

[Fat]

Are there any classes veterans can attend to learn VA procedure and law. It would seem helpful to both sides for veterans to know proper procedure when filing paperwork (claims, CUES, NOD's, Form 9, etc). The VA benefits by better developed claims and less stress deciding what evidence is important.

[Fat]

I'm always looking for avenues which empower veterans thru knowledge. Hadit.com is a wonderful site that educates and supports veterans during the claims process.

[Berta]

Some of us here ( me and PR for example) took the NVLSP Basic Training course available here:

http://www.nvlsp.org/store/the-basic-training-course-for-veterans-benefits I took it in 1997 and the course has all changed by now

I think the best investment I have made since 1991 is also buying the annual VBM (Veterans Benefits Manual) prepared by NVLSP.

NVLSP does countless other things as well for veterans:
http://www.nvlsp.org/what-we-do/

The new edition of the VBM will probably be out in August or Sept and older editions might be available at Amazon.

NVLSP is the pro bono law firm who won the Beverly Nehmer case, and this case has altered the lives of Agent Orange veterans ever since.

I have found, as a long term hardcore claimant, that our Hadit mantra, "Knowledge is Power" is so true!

After having some reps years ago who didnt have a clue, and were very negative about my claims, I won them myself ,with knowledge I gained from the VBM.

Also I have studied COVA cases, CAVC cases, and almost every Saturday I look over the BVA web site because that can give an advocate a very good handle on how the BVA and court implements the regulations that control us.

There are many good vet reps out there but they are overwhelmed all the time.The rest of them in my opinion are a bunch of lazy dopes.

Our best vet rep is who we see in the mirror every morning.

With all of the recent VA scandals, veterans have also complained that the books have been cooked in the claims backlog as well as in other instances.

It is absolutely absurd that a claimant , with probative evidence, might have that evidence ignored or manipulated at a regional office level and then have to go to the BVA for a proper decision.

It is even more absurd that ROs continue to deprive claimants of valid VCAA letters or faulty C & P exams, so bad that it would cause a BVA remand, asking the RO to redo what they should have done right in the first place.

I have received personal decisions over the past 20 years that reveal VA will even try to make up a regulation that doesn't exist or even seriously manipulate a C & P exam in an SOC.

My initial Nehmer decision in 2011 (they cued it in a few weeks because I raised hell) stands at the top of my list for the most ridiculous VA decision I have ever received.

We claimants MUST start looking for legal errors right off the bat ,whether we get awards or denials, because a legal error, right from the git go, hinders our ability to file a proper NOD.

This is why I think one of my current claims is taking so long.I asked them to CUE one part of my Nehmer award letter. Then I filed a timely NOD but I also asked for an extension on the NOD time limit. ( NODs can only be extended with "good cause", which is determined by the RO or the BVA.

You stated:

"The VA benefits by better developed claims and less stress deciding what evidence is important."

I agree, and of course that benefits every claimant to not only prepare a valid claim, but to supply them with probative evidence, and if they ignore that evidence, the claimant has to raise a ruckus.


I shaped the NOD extension request for the BVA,if the claim gets there. If a decision contains a legal error in it, that also manifested an altered outcome, even in an award letter like mine, the claimant is hindered in preparing a proper NOD.

I knew it would add time to this claim doing that, but I felt I raised a good point which maybe others could use, if needed, when it gets resolved.

However if I didnt raise a ruckus on the initial Nehmer decision, at the RO level, I might still have my thumb up my butt waiting in the BVA queue.

.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Berta

[Navy04]

Always helps to learn as much as we can

[Fat]

I went to Barnes & Nobles and also visited Amazon.com to look for Veteran Disability help books. I found quite a few at reduced prices (reduced is a good thing), but was undecided which to get. Anybody want to chime in and recommend a good book they read on the subject.

[Philip Rogers]

The Veterans Benefits Manual, published by LexisNexis is the best. The course Berta & I took, I felt, was very basic and by the time I took it, I had already surpassed it, in my knowledge. AskNod also has a book.

As Berta stated, the 2014 VBM is due out in September and I would wait for the new one to be released. You can also buy their editions of VA laws or get them from the Govt Printing office (38 US Code & 38 CFR).

jmo

pr

[carlie]

The best you can get - some says no I can't afford it !

I say - if you have VBA claim issues - you can't afford NOT to have it !

Link for LexisNexis

Veterans Benefits Manual

http://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/search.page?q=veterans%20benefit%20manual