BVA Decision

[porgee]

BVA granted me and effective date of 2003 in the decision but only paid me back until

2004 one year short and only to say they made a mistake in the first decision. The Judge made

a mistake but this was the year I ask for in NOD. The 6 digit retro is nice but 1 year short and now 

another 5 years of appeals or leave it alone??  It took 9 years in appeals for this only to

get shorted one year. I might let it go tired of fighting the ""goberment'' not goverment

[porgee]

I ask because my brother got a remand from CAVC AND HIS ATTORNEY

claims he only got paid $1000.00 in EAJA fees which mean he gets more of his retro

would the fee be in the decision or it come from the attorney? anybody

Edited June 14, 2017 by porgee

[Gastone]

The CAVC attorney fees are a matter of Record, just have to look up his Docket Number. The Award of CAVC Legal Fees is a little more complicated than just that posted list of Historical Hrly Fees.

After A CAVC Award or Remand, the Vet's Lawyer must submit a motion for legal Fees. He must include a complete breakdown of  Primary Lawyers Yrs of experience, Sr Lawyers get a larger Hrly Rate than a Jr Lawyer and or work performed by a Jr associate.

After you review your Brothers Docket, let us know what the Lawyer billed.

As far as the "Difficulty of the Case," doesn't really matter, it's all about billable hrs. I've posted recently regarding my friends CAVC Remand 4 or 5/1016 from a late 2016 BVA Denial. Like you, he signed on with Vet  Legal Consortium at the very last minute.  VLC filed for CAVC right away, within the 5 or so months, a Remand was Handed Down. VLC petitioned the Court for Legal Fees and was awarded $18K. My friends ED Award netted him Retro of about $7K. Wasn't a very difficult case for VLC, but got them a nice payday, wouldn't you say.    Semper Fi

[porgee]

You wont know what the fees are paid until you get the final decision from your 

award or attorney. The attorney bill only states the court awarded EAJA fee of 

$1075.00. So I guess you will have to trust your attorney on the fees that was paid.

HE didn't get a bill on EAJA fees and its not in the decision. The fees above is the max

the court will pay it doesn't say anything about senior attorney it doesn't matter its the max

paid.Its up to the court as to how much is to be paid from my reading.

Edited June 14, 2017 by porgee

[VetlawUS]

11 hours ago, Gastone said:

After A CAVC Award or Remand, the Vet's Lawyer must submit a motion for legal Fees. He must include a complete breakdown of  Primary Lawyers Yrs of experience, Sr Lawyers get a larger Hrly Rate than a Jr Lawyer and or work performed by a Jr associate.

After you review your Brothers Docket, let us know what the Lawyer billed.

If there is a question about whether the attorney was paid the fee the Court ordered, ask to see a copy of the check they deposited into their Client Trust Account.

EAJA Checks are still paper checks (VA setting the bar high on technology, right?)  and are made payable to the attorney and the appellant, and most state bars require attorneys to deposit these into a Client Trust Account before moving it into their firm's operating account.  

Your attorney should have a copy of the negotiated check, or some proof of deposit.

One point and one quick correction...

First, the correction..... except in rare cases (which to my knowledge has never occurred), the attorney at the CAVC who is awarded fees is paid what is called the "EAJA Rate".  

That rate is set by the Dept. of Justice (as EAJA is used in many other settings) and is currently $125/hr for an attorney - whether they have practiced 1 day or 1 decade.  The attorney can get an "increase" for the cost-of-living by using the inflation indices for their region at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

An attorney in Dallas, for example, can increase that $125/hr to $180-$190/hr, depending on what is happening in that region inflation-wise at the time the petition for fees is filed. For comparison purposes, when I was in Dallas as a private employment attorney over a decade ago, could typically bill a client between $250-375/hr.

Under EAJA, even though I have more experience than a brandy-new attorney, that attorney could make much more than me depending on the location of their firm.  In my opinion, it's just another obstacle that prevents more attorneys from making a career of representing Veterans. 

Second, a point.  There is something called the "EAJA Offset", and folks have mentioned it above. It works like this. If you have an attorney at the CAVC who receives EAJA fees, AND who later is entitled to a contingency fee on the same issue on remand to the Board/VARO, the attorney must refund the lower of the 2 fees.  He cannot keep both - most attorneys offset the higher by the lower. The key is they have to be the same issue.  

If an attorney wins you a remand at the Court on a sleep apnea denial (for which the fee is ordered to pay $6000), and then recovers a past-due award on a veteran's diabetes claim, the attorney is entitled to keep both, because they are separate issues. 

Hope that makes sense.

I cover all this (and more) in my book "How to Choose a  VA Claims Attorney"

FREE eBook Version: https://www.veteranslawblog.org/product/hire-attorney-va-claim-appeal/

Buy the paperback version (publisher sets the price, which is why it is not free): http://www.lulu.com/shop/chris-attig/how-to-choose-a-va-claims-attorney/paperback/product-22649916.html

[Gastone]

V-US, thanks for the correction on the EAJA rate info. I'll have to eyeball my friends CAVC Remand Award regarding the Fee $18K. Somehow in the legal fee Award disscussion, I got linked to the Info regarding the Applicable fees dependant on Jr or Sr Lawyer Status. When I find it, I forward it for your opinion.

It is good to know that $125.00 per Hr is the basic rate. I think when I 1st had contact with a civil Attorney back in the 80's,  solo GP Lawyer's were billing about $150 per hr, substantial Firm attorneys were in the $250 per hr range.

My friends CAVC Remand that was Awarded 1st part of 2016 within about 5+ mos of his BVA Denial, netted his Lawyer from the Vet Legal Consortium $18K in Fees. 144 hrs @ $125, seems like a lot of hrs. On the other hand, Porgee's brother's Lawyers CAVC Fee Award was $1K, 8 Hrs @ $125 seems very lite.

Semper Fi

[VetlawUS]

Gastone,

Definitely forward that decision to me....always curious to read unique decisions like that. 

I am always very surprised at firms that bill less than 50 hours (paralegal and attorney) when they prevail at the CAVC ... I just don't see how that is possible unless the file is tiny (less than 200-300 pages)....and I have only seen about 10 files of that size in the last 10 years.  That's just one man's  opinion though.

Overall, EAJA fee rates are pretty low, and it can be a challenge to run a business on those rates.  Beyond that, though, the court pretty aggressively trims the hours we work on the case - as they should, given the purpose of EAJA.  Point is, I bet that most attorneys have to take a loss on 40-50% of the hours that are actually worked on even a successful CAVC case 

My counterparts who represent corporate clients are billing $400-500/hr, and when I did employment law (ironically, defending a lot of VA employees illegally terminated), that reviewing Board regularly authorized rates in excess of $350/hr (and that was over 10 years ago).

Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining at all - I love the work I do and wouldn't trade it for a 7 figure income ... but I have learned attorneys need to be committed to this practice area and committed to running a well-oiled and efficient business machine if their law firm is going to succeed in representing Veterans in the long run.

There are probably less than 50-100 lawyers/firms that have been doing this work for more than 10 years.  Far fewer have been doing it 20+ years.  

I should probably stop babbling about "lawyer woes" and get to work. *smile*