AM I BEING BADMOUTHED BY AN ATTORNEY?

[63Charlie]

 

 

The last attorney I had refused to answer or return my phone calls.

She made a decision, without informing me, to withdraw two appeals via her "contact" at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office that I had submitted for hearing loss and tinnitus 

 

I revoked her legal representation.

 

This attorney refuses to waive the legal fees.

I have tried, without success, to obtain new legal representation by other law firms.

Once I send the law firm the letter they request showing where I released my former attorney, usually in a day or two, I get contacted informing me they will not be able to take my appeals.

One attorney told me he was going to call and speak with my former attorney before he took my case.

After their discussion, he declined to represent me.

I have asked other law firms why they refused to take my appeals, and the standard response is, "We are declining representation and by our actions of refusal of representation does not indicate that your appeals are without merit.."

 

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by 63Charlie

[john999]

I agree with Berta and Buck.  If you get the DRO take your IMO/IME's with you and present them.  The more evidence you have the better chance to get what you want at the local level.  Be polite and friendly if possible with the DRO.  These guys or gals can sometimes make a decision right there to grant your claim in full or in part and save you years of appeals.  Just get all the evidence you can get. Make your arguments precise and to the point.  If you talk about fairness and how the VA has screwed you for years the DRO's turn off their hearing aides.   Medical evidence is what you need and IMO/IME fits that definition.  Claims that involve thousands of other vets are unlikely to be resolved locally.  A unique claim that pertains to you only and your facts has a better chance IMO.

[broncovet]

I dont see a good reason to go against your attorney's advice.   Timing is important.  They call it 

"Doctor shoppping".  That is, find a doctor who will opine for you.  The VA isnt supposed to do that, and you can "call them out" for that, but you would need an attorney to do so.  

Its probably not a bad idea for you to get a VSO, even tho, I am not crazy about VSO's.  

I do think it is kind of a "lottery" as to which VSO you can draw.  Some will help you a lot, others neither help nor hurt you, and some will even mess up everything.  If you do get a VSO, dont just "pick the one who is available the soonest."   You see, doing that way is a bad idea.  

The popular VSO's are so because they probably did a good job and won claims.  So they tell their friends.  

Then there are VSO's who have a clean schedule (no waiting) for at least one of 2 reasons:

1.  They are a rookie and dont know what they are doing.  

2.  They are experienced but messed up enough claims no one wants them to represent them.  

      The great VSO, however, is worth waiting for.  

[Buck52]

broncovet hit right on about that..I had a VSO one time that never knew what the hell a 21- 0958 was

I ask him if he had any 21- 0958's forms I could take home  because I need 4 or 5  b/c I mess them up and I want to get all this right,  he said whats that?...........21-09   whatttt?

I  turn and run out his office as fast as I could and  this has been over 20 years ago  and I was fairly new to the claims process,  I just got denied the first time around  it was back in 1998. 

After this  this is when I found Hadit  Ms Beta and Flip Helig Helped me out back then and still do today......Flip as gone on with his life and enjoying his edler years  he don't get on hadit any more  but he was my big hero on these claims  I learn a lot from Flip...aka  Phillip Rogers.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Buck52

[FormerMember]

As a nonattorney practitioner, I would find it difficult to accept a Vet who had fired an attorney. The operable word would be trust. I have had combative Vets who seek my representation and then begin arguing with me about how to adjudicate something. If they were so knowledgeable on how to do this, why come to me and tell me how to? I belong to NOVA and we are not a cliqueish club. I don't recall meeting Julie Glover but I would point out she is forbidden by law to "barter" away any of your claims without consulting and receiving your permission to do so first. VSOs, on the other hand, can, and often do, sell you down the river legally-with or without your permission. 

Now, with that said, I have asked Vets if I have permission to barter away low value claims such as tinnitus hemorrhoids or hearing loss (assuming it isn't life threatening like Buck's). The reason is simple. If I can get TDIU for PTSD or an amalgam of disabilities that qualify for TDIU, I can go to a DRO and say we'll toss in the nit noy crap if he'll grant the IU. DROs can barter but not "on the record". We do it strictly off the record because it's illegal to do so. I've done this a bunch of times but I always had the Vet's permission beforehand. Sounds like Ms. Glover might have overstepped her mandate. However, she was trying to get you the highest and best ratings she could and she would never do it out of spite or stupidity. I personally believe you shot yourself in the foot by firing her but that's based on your side of the story. I might revise that belief if I found out she had acted unprofessionally. This is one of the reasons I have a rock solid attorney/client fee agreement that spells it out ahead of time. Terminating your hired help puts a black mark in their OGC personnel folder. Worse, if you tell the next potential attorney/agent you try to hire why you are there (that you need a new law dog because you canned the old one), it worries them that if they upset you, you may fire them too. There are approximately 750 real VA attorneys out there who do VA claims exclusively. There are 350 agents. There are 20 million Vets and 3 million in the system actively seeking compensation. Do the math. There simply are not enough of us to go around. If you 86 your hired help, you are going to have the devil's own time finding another. If you lie or fail to disclose it, we'll find out anyway because it's right there in your claims file. If Ms. Glover has politely declined to waive her legal fees, does that mean she won something for you and is entitled to 20% of it? Do you expect her to walk away from any payment due and owing as agreed to in your fee agreement? If so, what is the purpose of a fee agreement at all?

I'm confused on one point here. Your post says Ms. Glover withdrew two appeals with her "contact" at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office. Were these claims on appeal or merely in the formative stage? In other words, had they been denied and appealed on a NOD? Depending on what you won, I'd say a potential 10% for tinnitus or a 0% for hearing loss was a smart ploy if she bartered them for a higher compensable rating on any other claims or IU. We have lots of techniques to win claims-some we don't discuss. Vets do not understand the process which is why they hire us to work our magic. If you fire one of us, you better have a darn good reason  because you will have the problems you now see. I don't cherry pick clients for the dough but I can sure testify I'm one of the few who do not. I won't mention names here but a lot do.  Just a heads up- hearing claims are like cheap Mardi Gras beads and not worth much. I only deal in Vets who are dying because they have very complex, difficult claims no one  knows how to win. I really don't need the money because I don't have $200,000 in student loans at 5.8%. 

As for submitting a N&ME with an IMO at a DRO hearing, I will point out the operation of law.

The Decision Review Officer is limited by law to review an appeal based on the facts found.  Undoubtedly, further medical inquiry can be undertaken with a view towards further developing the claim.  However, in this regard, the Court has cautioned VA against seeking an additional medical opinion where favorable evidence in the record is unrefuted, and indicated that it would not be permissible to undertake further development if the sole purpose was to obtain evidence against an appellant's claim.  See Mariano v. Principi, 17 Vet. App. 305, 312 (2003).   See also Kahana v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 428 (2011); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet.App. 79, 85 (2006 (In any event, the lack of medical evidence in service does not constitute substantive negative evidence).

As for whether a VSO or an attorney/agent is a better advocate, would you hire a dance instructor to fix your car? An atty/agent has to learn law-VA law specifically. A VSO has to be able to recognize a 4138 from a 0958 and understand how to fill it out. That is pretty much the sum of what he needs to know to 'practice'.  

 

With that said, I do hope you obtain new legal counsel because it sounds like it would be advisable to have a Sherpa.

[63Charlie]

Thanks to all.

Your counseling/opinions is appreciated.

[Guest L]

quick sidebar to one question- I paid for ($2,000)  IMO and sent in with my NOD - I did my claim by myself - I used the IMO - as a strategy  to prevent develop to deny - blocking tactic... in case.... lot of satisfaction and reading -  I am the best one to process my claim.... I did it before I found the had it website.

granted IU - first time.... it can be done. 

Best of Luck. 

Edited July 16, 2018 by L
grammar