Advice On Appeal

[helman35]

My claim yesterday went from Gathering Evidence to Preparation for Decision to Pending Decision Approval. I wake up this morning to have this. Now the Claim states back at Gathering Evidence stage.

Rated Disabilities

Disability

Rating

Decision

Related To

Effective Date

left ankle condition (claimed as left ankle injury)

Not Service Connected

respiratory condition (also claimed as acute respiratory distress condition)

Not Service Connected

residuals, traumatic brain injury (claimed as head injury and nausea)

Not Service Connected

rhinitis (claimed as respiratory condition)

10%

Service Connected

01/21/2015

Meniere's Syndrome (also claimed as vertigo, dizziness, and bilateral peripheral dysfunction)

Not Service Connected

migraine headaches

Not Service Connected

tinnitus

Deferred

right ankle condition (claimed as right ankle injury)

Not Service Connected

chronic sinusitis

0%

Service Connected

01/21/2015

seizure condition (claimed as seizures)

Not Service Connected

What is the best way to Appeal. Hire an Attorney or go through American Legions? I did not even get a C&P exam on Bilateral Peripheral Dysfunction, Tinnitus. I am really supprised they did not Service Connect since I have several injuries, and one that had me off my feel for 3 months in Germany. At the C&P exam the Nurse Practioner didnt do much of an exam and didnt do any measurments. Asked me if I had swelling versus looking.

I have googled VA Disability Attorneys but Mississippi doesnt offer alot. Any suggestions.

[lotzaspotz]

Sorry, I will disagree on the question about getting an attorney after the NOD. A lot of that depends on how strong a stomach you have for dealing with this stuff, given the learning curve involved and whatever else you've got going on in your life. Attorney representation can relieve a lot of stress and, of course, they have more knowledge and experience with case law and the proper application of the statutes in question.

American Legion? Please.

VSO's are not even on my radar screen. You get what you pay for. JMO.

[broncovet]

The VA deliberately does not keep statistics on win/loss at the DRO level, but I would suggest it is comparable to "first time" decision level in the 15-40 percent success range. I do think your odds are a bit better with a DRO HEARING, vs a DRO review. The main reason is because, if you are at a hearing, YOU can look at the evidence and say, "Gee, how come DR. Polasky's evidence is not there?" and then supply your copy of favorable evidence. This is a very very big deal as VA's favorite method of denial is to lose, shred, or not read your evidence, and say, "the record is lacking any favorable evidence". This is VA's favorite thing..you know..the Frisch's commercial..."Whats your favorite thing?" VA's is denying Vets due to lost or shredded evidence.

There are many statistics kept, however, at the BVA level. The Board chairman gives a report each year, and breaks down each of the VSO's, attorney representation, and "other".

Contrary to what some post on other sites, the attorneys do better than VSO's, in almost all categories. They are broken down into "remand", "denial" and award. AT the BVA those three are fairly close to even..that is you have about a 1/3 chance of a remand, 1/3 for a denial, and a 1/3 chance for an award. NOt exactly, but close.

Denials are the best indicator..you never get money with a denial. You might get money with a remand, and you might with an award. Why would you not get money with an "award"? Because VA has a nasty habit of "granting" service connection, and then "awarding" 0 percent. This means you get zip with an award, so, as far as money, you may just about as well gotten a denial. Now you start over and try to get an increase, the same as you would if you got a denial except you just start over.

Edited April 23, 2015 by broncovet

[lotzaspotz]

Attorneys specializing in veterans law need not be geographically located near you. You don't have to limit yourself to Mississippi. My husband's attorney is in Virginia but we are in Louisiana.

[FormerMember]

Yeppers. Mine is in Detroit and I'm in Seattle. However, he's flying out here next Wednesday because VA decided to schedule a Travel Board Hearing on a two week notice. Far too sneaky. Funny how the Extraordinary Writ lit a fire under Secretary Bob's ass after the telephone call fell flat. Even better, it's for my VR&E $50,000.00 ILP greenhouse request and another 100% schedular rating. Old Bob isn't going to get any more shekels out of it except for EAJA fees. I suppose I could cut him in on a percentage of my winter lettuce production though...

Seriously, I hope the American Legion idea dies an early death... like yesterday. Lotzaspotz is spotz on. How much anguish do you want in your wheelhouse? The atty. will cost you 20% of a win in now dollars on a one time basis. Then you go on about your life with the rest. Or... you fight a battle you do not understand for five more years. You need a lot of knowledge and some nexus letters in a short period of time. You need a c file to fight it. Your have the cart before the horse and need to catch up pronto. There's tons of information here to be had. I suggest you start with the Evelyn Woods speed reading course first.

[lotzaspotz]

There's a reason, when the law was changed in 2007 allowing attorney representation after the first NOD, that it wasn't grandfathered to cover claims still pending at the RO or appeals pending at the Board. They were just as deserving of legal protection by professionals as the claims filed afterwards. Instead, anything filed before the law changed had to wait until the Board denied the appeal and the veteran then appealed it to the Court of Veterans Appeals before attorney representation was allowed.

We still have appeals pending at the Board that have been repeatedly remanded to the RO and back again, that have never been to the CAVC. As they were initially filed claims prior to 2007 (they were filed in 1993), we had to parse those out from the claims we filed after the law was changed, as well as appeals that did reach the Court and were then remanded.

We would have secured attorney representation from the initial denials if that had been allowed, especially considering the investment of time and emotion handling our own issues pro se. We took this on after a VSO stuck a claim in a desk drawer and forgot about it, as in forgot to file it, and guess what? No remorse and no accountability, so I thought, hey, I can do this. I need to do this for our own protection. At that point, it became very clear to me that this, in fact, is an adversarial process right out of the gate. I found out how draining and time consuming being your own advocate can be. However, once I was in, I was in with both feet.

Edited April 23, 2015 by lotzaspotz

[Fat]

"Never Give Up"

Sinusitis: If its still a problem I would start seeing a VA ENT for treatment.

The VA can keep records of your treatment dates and eventually you can refile for a increase from 0%.

If you have past/present treatment notes from private physicians (with residuals), then file a NOD and submit that information.