Someone Talk Me Out Of It!?

[stillhere]

Hello well I am finally ready for the big shots in DC at the BVA. I have all my papers in order and planning on either going with a lawyer or not?

I am really having a hard time trying to decide! I have gotten this far basically with the help of this site and one other and also a pretty good state VSO. (he is now retired) Should I give up a 20% fee and go with a lawyer or just wing it myself knowing if I lose I can still appeal to court or try a reconsideration with a lawyer.

Little history Nam vet 69/70 central highlands with paper work showing couple of visit to medic for ear aches and problems with otitis Media. During exam to separate told by medic I flunked my hearing test (whisper test I think) and I had to stay an extra two weeks so they could test me further. I then signed a waiver so I could go home then, back to a exam 3 months earlier which showed 15's all the way across but the ent doctor hand wrote high frequency loss unilateral with otitis media.

I got out in 71 and never looked back even though I knew I was having trouble hearing I was hopping it would not get worse. Well it did, and I went to the VA for help in 1984 but they denied me and I did not appeal. Don't ask me why, just to disappointed and had a lot going on in my life. Ended getting a hearing aide myself and going on with my life. I was 36 I think.

Ran into a friend at AL and I was telling him what I did and he said I should try and get it reopened. I worked on that from 06 to 2013 when suddenly the VA called and had me in for a C&P well the dr. sided with me 100% and wrote a exam that blew away anything that the VA had. I was Very surprised to say the least and when I got my copy of the C&P I knew I would get service connected!

Sure enough the VA granted hearing loss and tinititis but they only retro me back to 2006 the date of my reopen claim. I NODed and still nothing, so now I am at the BVA and really don't want to screw this up.

But do I get a lawyer? What say you ladies and gents??

Stillhere

[Malnick]

I hired an attorney in 2010 and he has not been very helpful other than submitting standard documentation for the appeals process. It may be because the longer it takes, the more money he will get(20%). When I originally put in the claim, I was trusting and naïve and hired him after hearing him speak at a VA hospital. If I were to do it again I would shop around. My claim was put in in 2009, after I retired from the military and I had plenty of documentation for injuries that had occurred while on duty. It really is a rat race and the VA is very good and timely when it comes to their billing for use of VA hospitals.

[Pete53]

I hired an attorney in 2010 and he has not been very helpful other than submitting standard documentation for the appeals process. It may be because the longer it takes, the more money he will get(20%). When I originally put in the claim, I was trusting and naïve and hired him after hearing him speak at a VA hospital. If I were to do it again I would shop around. My claim was put in in 2009, after I retired from the military and I had plenty of documentation for injuries that had occurred while on duty. It really is a rat race and the VA is very good and timely when it comes to their billing for use of VA hospitals.

Bummer but I think most lawyers want the cash and there should be a good one on your claim.

[stillhere]

Well ladies and gents.....

Just got back and first off my state VSO (Virginia) was not there. They went and got one of the reps from the AL and had a briefing with them. One was in training.

Took a little longer because they had to talk with me first and then come back and talk with me again before going to the LJ. Not the best scenario but it is what it is.

The judge came in and we laid out my case for my EED and she had a few questions but not a lot it was probably over in this than an hour.

The feeling in the room was I had a 50/50 chance of winning my earlier date so I have to live with that.

I am grateful to everyone here at Hadit and AL for letting me have my say/ Not sure what else I can do for this claim now because I held nothing back and all the facts as they occurred are out there!

Stillhere