Have Had Attorney Less Than Two Months, Owe Fees?

[Chuck75]

What ifs and might have beens aside.

I don't believe that a son or daughter should be the representative in a veterans or SSI case, or function as one.

The results good or bad are better assigned to a third party. It's very difficult for family to take an unbiased view

of the whole matter. Better that family help prepare and organize any existing documentation, then seek representation when the veteran

is not (for any reason) completely competent or prepared to do it by themselves.

Further, should it come to a BVA hearing, the old legal saw about being one's own lawyer comes into play.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Chuck75 (see edit history)

[lotzaspotz]

I may have overlooked discussion of it here, but normally in an appeal, the specific conditions being appealed are outlined in the contract with the attorney. At least, that's been our experience with our attorney. If the situation changes where an appeal for an additional condition needs to be added, we receive an addendum to the original contract. A contract should not imply carte blanche representation, and if what you signed is worded that way, I am guessing you're technically on the hook for whatever is pending now. Have a talk with your attorney about this, as your relationship is in its very early stages. You may find that he/she is willing to compromise on this. If you have anything else pending for which you've done all of the work, you'll need an addendum to exempt it from their representation, unless, of course, you think as I do that having counsel show up--period-- increases your chances of a successful appeal.

I have done 95% of the work on many of my husband's appeals, but once the appeal(s) reaches the Board or the CAVC, you bet I will try to add it to our attorney's list if he is willing to accept it. Otherwise, we represent ourselves. Sometimes, that professional brief to the Board or CAVC is so persuasive an argument that I, being a non-attorney, would never be able to write as eloquent a summary. Believe me when I tell you that often enough, it's more than objective evidence that matters - - it's the attorney recognizing when the VA is not following the statutes that state the manner in which the VA is obligated to interpret that evidence that seals the deal. JMO.

Edited July 31, 2015 by lotzaspotz (see edit history)

[broncovet]

I recently hired an attorney, and he told me this, on this subject:

He explained that the fee agreement is the maximum fee, not the fee.

First, you need to ask your attorney to ask the court for applicable EAJA fees. These are regurarly awarded. These fees will be deducted from the 20%.

Your attorney may not do this. He should, IMHO, but it is extra work for him, and he may not care if the fees come from you or EAJA.

Next, and you can discuss this with your attorney, if this is CAVC the court will ask for an itemized statemtent for attorney fees, and attorney fees will be approved by the court. They must be reasonable. The CAVC will uses attorney fees for the applicable area, on an hourly rate, based on the hours the attorney submits.

I do think it may depend on you. If you simply dont say anything, then you will likely be charged 20%. But, if you ask the attorney/bva/CAVC for a list of hours from the attorney, then you could pay a lot less than 20%.

All this said, this is why some people recommend waiting to hire an attorney until you get to the CAVC. I do agree that most of the time you dont need an attorney until the CAVC level or above. At the Board level, the board is frankly used to Veterans representing themself, or, often, incompetent VSO's. This is what this "Duty to assist" is about.

Some law firms dont even want cases until they are denied at the Board level for this reason. The NVLSP, for example, did not want to talk to me until I had a board denial.

To stick up for the attorney, you may not know all of what he did. Just because he did not call you to see what you had for lunch yesterday, does not mean he did not submit papers on your behalf that helped you win. He may have many more hours invested than you will ever know. Further, he may have years of experience and he knows just how to make it happen.

I heard the story of a computer guru. This was back in "main frame" computer time, when computers cost millions. This expert was called to fix the computer after it baffled people with less experience for years. The guru fixed the computer in 5 minutes, and sent them a bill for $10,000

The company said they would pay the bill but they needed it itemized. So, he sent an itemized statement.

1. Defective computer part. $5

2. Knowing which part of computer that was broken $9995.

It really is true. Many times these experts have to study for years to know what it takes to fix it in minutes or even seconds. Your attorney may have learned "just what to do" in his many years of law experience, and fixed it pronto, and made it look easy.

YOURS IS A GREAT PROBLEM TO HAVE!!!! What to do with your RETRO!

Edited July 31, 2015 by broncovet (see edit history)

[Jumpmaster]

Lotzaspotz said: I have done 95% of the work on many of my husband's appeals, but once the appeal(s) reaches the Board or the CAVC, you bet I will try to add it to our attorney's list if he is willing to accept it. Otherwise, we represent ourselves. Sometimes, that professional brief to the Board or CAVC is so persuasive an argument that I, being a non-attorney, would never be able to write as eloquent a summary. Believe me when I tell you that often enough, it's more than objective evidence that matters - - it's the attorney recognizing when the VA is not following the statutes that state the manner in which the VA is obligated to interpret that evidence that seals the deal. JMO.

I wholeheartedly agree with your opinion. It's my sole responsibility to gather every piece of evidence available that support and prove my service related injuries or diseases and blows the VA corrupt SME's off the battlefield or cause their "Denial Ship" to sink to the bottom of the sea. It make life easier when you're able to hand off a decent file to expert VA Attorneys and start focusing on staying alive and making sure your survivors will never have to fight to receive all they're entitled to receive after the veteran fades away. Jumpmaster

[Jumpmaster]

Broncovet you're always on target. If the attorney works for you they deserve to be compensated.

It's better to work in partnership with your attorney and win your claim and retro. Sharing 80/20 or 70/30 is Hell of a lot better than VA delaying 100% retro benefits, hoping you die waiting and they keep everything.

Remember in Matthew 22:21 and Mark 12:17 17 And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at Him.

My opinion is compensating someone for their work is not a difficult decision when you receive from VA what you've never had when you first started your Pilgrim's progress march into VA warfare. I know for sure VA blow smoke up younger vets rear whenever saying Thank you for your service, We Care and are here for you who've borne the battle, we are not adversarial and you will not find one "smidgen of evidence" against us while processing your claim.

Jumpmaster

[broncovet]

Thanks, Jumpmaster

I think lots of people think that attorney's who represent Vets make a fortune. That rarely, if ever, happens. I spoke with an attorney who no longer represents Veterans at VA. I asked them why. They explained, "Not just Veterans are uspset about the backlog."

Apparently, attornies dont like to wait 4 or 5 years, most of the time, for their paychecks either.

[Gastone]

With out reading everybody's replies, I probably agree with all of them.

Do you have a copy of the Legal Representation Agreement that your DAD or whoever is his POA signed with the lawyer? Black out identifiers and post. If the potential large retro was not addressed and the lawyer performed limited work, you might be able to get off with billable hours in the area of $300+ per hr. Worth a try but doubtful.

Has he been on appeal for 10 years or are we talking about a closed claim that's reopened.

Just went back and re-read your post. I think you jumped a little early with the attorney. Your recent C & P was pending from an active appeal. Unless the contract specifically states to the contrary, your lawyer is due his 20% Retro Fee if it's awarded tomorrow or in 2 years. He didn't sign on to just represent a new claim for headaches, right.

Semper Fi

Gastone

[Buck52]

In my opinion I don't think she is unwillingly not wanting to pay this attorney, she wants to pay him what he is due and he has only been on the case a couple months and the cases was decided.

now the attorney wants the 20%of the last 10 years, imo that's not fair, so I think she should pay him for what time he did help with his time and postage, phone calls,ect,,ect,,( any out of cost to the attorney that pertain to this case) and the work he actually did on her case and just pay according as what she and the attorney agreed on when she first hired the attorney.

if the attorney wants the 20%for the last 10 years & she don't feel he is owed this she should contact her RO and seek advice as what her rights are I mean her Fathers Rights.

unless however she is bound to this attorney for attorney fees the whole past 10 years that is the question here?

...............Buck

[Pete53]

The deal about the attorneys is if you agree than you should pay theml 20% of an award gained by a professional is a decent payment for other things many attorneys get a third to 50%. If the attorneys fon't win for you they get nothing.