Onward to R1

[FormerMember]

This is why I always do a travel board hearing instead of a videoconference. First, the VLJ is sitting 4 feet away from my client. S/he sees every eye movement and his/her sincerity. Somebody promoted me to attorney but I'm not. I filed POA and request for SMC R1 on May 15th. Got the denial on 6/25 and filed the NOD a week later. VES came to his home for the c&p on 7/11. Ft. Harrison issued the SOC on 8/05 and I filed the VA 9 a week later. They certified it to the BVA on 8/11. I asked the BVA for an Advance on docket 8/28. I got it a week later on 9/09.  They gave me the Board hearing on 9/18 but I had to bring the client here (Seattle) from Montana. Apparently, Montana doesn't do Travel Board hearings-just video. They issued the decision 10 days later on 9/28. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how VA justice should work. See? Being a pain in the a-- works. That's how I like to litigate. You are only limited by your mind when you set out to do something.

 

Moser BVA grant 9-28-2018 redacted.pdf

Edited October 4, 2018 by asknod

[broncovet]

Congratulations on your win (for your client)!

  I recently read the "average" time frame for a BVA decision is 4 years 11 months.  I certainly understand the "advance on the docket" seemed to fly, but you managed to get a 13 month SOC in just about a month, and someone managed to get it certified (a 2.5 hour job, which usually takes VA around 2 years) in just a week.  

Has Chevy,  Ford, and Toyota,  contacted you to race for them at NASCAR, yet?  With those speeds, you should have no trouble there.  

You posted:

Quote

See? Being a pain in the a-- works.

Maybe Im the "wrong kind" of Pain in the a--, because all the VARO/BVA/CAVC wants to do is to delay.  When someone picks up my file..they say.."Gee this guy is a Pain in the a--....pick another file."  

Are you getting this degree of speed with most of your clients or just this one?  

 

[FormerMember]

Well, Loyal, this was a Swift Boat twin-.50s tub gunner who carried a terminal diagnosis with a three year punchout date. His Montana State Veterans Affairs Officer had told him in 2000 he'd maxed out at 100% for PTSD so there was no reason to file for anything else. He had the extra 60 for his back since 1996 but nobody told him about SMC S. Fort Fumble must have "overlooked it" quite by accident as he was P&T. That was a big unpaid check unto itself nobody noticed for 18 years.

Cupcake had his wife on her Real Estate website and they got to talking about Vets back in 2015. She had his wife tell him to call me. Three years later, when he did call me in May, he told me about the Prostate cancer that had metastasized into bone cancer in the pelvis & lower extremities. He got the 3-year briefing this March. I filed him for  back SMC S first with a topper of SMC L for the LOU of the lower extremities. I also asked for, and the DRO blew off, SMC L for Aid and Attendance. The guy's knocking back oxycodone, MS and tramadol (plus Jack Daniels) for the pain. It makes him a bit fuzzy. He falls down a lot from no feeling in his legs. He has scars all over his arms from falling. His private doctors (he doesn't use VA), on September 7th, looked at his recent labs and said they were revising his three years down to six months. They did offer an additional 3 months if he wanted to go back on chemotherapy until he died. He politely declined and said he'd rather die with his hair intact and not puking during his last breath. He called me September 11th and gave me the new schedule. 

I called the DRO in Fort Harrison after I hung up with him and explained our problem. She cut a  DEFCON 1 and faxed it to the BVA. I called them and got his AOD request faxed over. Next thing I know, my Travel Board gal here in Seattle called on September 13th at 1430 and said  if I could get him here from Montana, they'd give me a 10 AM slot in front of VLJ Cherry Crawford five days hence on Sept. 18th. We put them up here at LZ Grambo for the night and did the hearing the next day. Their daughter ferried them up north for a week and took them home just in time to get the BBE out of the mailbox. I grant you I've heard of BVA rocket dockets, but this is my personal best. From the May 15th  21-526EZ to BVA grant was a meagre 136 days. I got the decision before I got the hearing transcript. I hope that's the normal for all of us by the time I punch out. Look up a--hole in the VA.gov dictionary. I'm pretty sure there's probably a picture of me by now. 

Remember those golden words. Leave no one behind...

[broncovet]

It sounds like Mr. Moser may not even be aware of what you did, given this guys health and pain meds.  However, his family should appreciate it.  Allow me to say "Thank you, Alex", even if this Veteran was unwilling, or unable to say it.  

Its kinda rare that this happens...it actually happened in reverse with my father in law.  He was dying and I helped him apply for NSC pension...which was denied, in no small part because of the VSO.  I brought this Veterans medical expenses...which were substantial...as I knew he had some income, and still should get NSC pension because an enormous amount of his income went into medical and it is dedudatble from the pension's max limit..but the dufus VSO did not get that.  The VSO told me "he did not need" the Veterans medical expenses.  The denial came back that his income was too high (duh..I knew that), so he was denied.  If his medical expenses were deducted (and I had prepared them all for him), he should have qualified.  

    He (the Veteran) decided "not to appeal"....against my advice.  He died about a year later.  He was a WW2 Vet.  Way to many Vets and their families miss out because they die first.  

    Its great you helped this Vet get his benefits delivered before he died.  (I dont know if he has passed or not)  

     Surely there should be a way to deliver benefits to a dying Vet.  

    My son in law, too, isnt probably going to be around much longer.  He has schrapnel in his legs and head (and a purple heart).  He has applied...several months ago..no decision yet.  I asked him about his purple heart.  He said he was fueling a vehicle (in Afghanastan), when a nearby vehicle blew up from an IED.  His body was shielded from the shrapnel from the vehicle he was fueling, but not his head and feet.  He did not seem to think he deserved a purple heart because he was not a combat Vet.   I told him he deserved it, even tho he was wounded not carrying a gun.  We (Vets) dont decide what to do, this decision is made by others, but he served in wartime, and got wounded for real, and deserves his purple heart.  

     He cannot go out in the sun without his face swelling up..so that seems to preclude him working all except "night" jobs.  He worked at night driving truck, but that isnt working out either.  

Edited October 5, 2018 by broncovet