Lawyers

[gdsnide]

When I filed for SS I was turned down

When I filed for SC I gor turned down

I got a Lawyer & got both claims approved ( Which were at different times)

Does anyone out there agree with getting a lawyer after a BVA denial or to go by yourself?

Seems to me government Agencies wake up when a Lawyer is introduced into the scenerio & get a lot more friendly

Sure U pay 25% but that's better than 100% of nothing plus U are SC.

Any opinions?

Thanks for reading post

GARY

Seems to me the VA is able to brush off a single Vet as oppossed to a Vet with a Lawyer in his corner

[Guest rickb54]

There is a big difference between:

* VA treatment = good

* VA claim process = potentially bad

I am talking about 2 completely different actions. In treatment, the VA tries to help you. In a claim, the VA tries to defeat you.

rickb54: its just.... as a Moderator of this forum, I don't believe that you should push your beliefs on others. I can do that, but you CANNOT.

Oh, rickb54, my apology. I see that you are no longer a Moderator on this forum. Now, you can say anything you want.... and I will ignor it.

Look all you want to do is get a rise out of me, all I am going to say is grow up. If you would just worry about yourself and less about me and what I think the world will be a much better place.

[sixthscents]

"I don't believe that you should push your beliefs on others. I can do that, but you CANNOT."

Now thats an interesting thought. I can push my beliefs on others? Hmmm... well I guess that really depends upon the belief and the "others". Jim Jones pushed his beliefs upon others, so did Stalin, Hitler... heck a whole bunch of people thru history...

I think perhaps what you meant was "express", or "declare"... since "push" and "force" in this context have much the same meaning. Simply put NOBODY has the right to force their beliefs upon others here. All we CAN do is express our beliefs or opinions...

Now with that said, I personally doubt that Rickb54 pushes his beliefs, but he does state his opinion. Moderator or not, he has that right... and I'd be willing to bet that he ASKED to be released from being a moderator (I just dont see T-Bird canning him.. sorry but hes been here way too long)... since its quite a thankless job (not that it doesnt need doing, but... well anytime a MOD gets involved things are already at a critical stage)

Is the VA on our side... well now that depends, personally I have seen so much screwed up in the rating process that I have come to the ocnclusion that either they are phenomenally overwhelmed, stupid, or some combination of both. Yet, I have seen COUNTLESS claims that were horribly prepared, horribly documented go up to the appeals court simply because the vet insisted that they were owed something. These claims are part of the problem. So I see it as being 2 fold...

1. The VA - or a higher agency seems to have set an unwritten policy since there are not any huge increases in raters... if they wanted to really address the problem the VA would be out hiring many more than they have.

2. The veteran is often simply filing crap that has no substance, or if it did, they fail to support their claims - repeatedly - literally thousands of times.

So, esentially I think that the VA rating system IS antagonistic, and perpousfully bottlenecked... the VA care system is NOT related to this though... I think that the situation is worsened by the unfounded claims being filed every day.

What are the answers?... Well, Hadit itself is one... veteran advocacy is another... and the veteran taking responsibility for their own claims is yet another... Again and again I see the same thing. The veterans who simply hand their claims over to an SO, or VA rep are the ones who scream the loudest when their claim is denied. Also, I see again and again that when the veteran takes an open, and leaning approach where they read the regualtions, assemble their evidence beforehand, and attempt to interact with the person handeling their claim... they are successful..... again and again and again I see it and Id be willing to bet real money that the elders, mods, and advocates here will back me up on this.

So, it all boils down to the veteran in the end, taking the initiative to try and help the advocate, SO or VA rep file a coherent, well documented and "perfected" claim.... Generally if you are here, you fall into that catagory.

So.. arguments can be made for both opinions... and I personally think that both are valid... and neither are worth getting upset over... theres my 2 cents anyway

[Guest rickb54]

So.. arguments can be made for both opinions... and I personally think that both are valid... and neither are worth getting upset over... theres my 2 cents anyway

And a very good 2 cents I might add....

[Tower_Rat]

Yeah, I think with a lawyer the veteran will do much better, since he is getting paid to win the claim. The VSO's are not paid to win but, punch a time card. Ive already noticed a big change in my claim since I have gotten a lawyer, with two phone calls that he has made. It has turned my claim completely around. The VSO's much of the time do not make phone calls to the VA. My lawyer on the first day called and made an appointment to talk to the person handling my claim personally, they also called to talk to the director of the Regional Office itself. Now do you think a veteran like myself could in all probability get to speak with them. I dont think so. The reason why is because the VA just runs over us. My lawyer looked at every name and signature on my claim and wanted to talk to them about their part in the claim and background of that person. Would the VSO's be doing this? My lawyer called and immediately wished to make an appointment to have a face to face with the regional office to discuss and negotiate my claim. The VSO's just dont take this initiative to get things done. They stay in an office and do paperwork. My lawyer personally visited all my doctors across the state to get statements from them as to my condition and unemployability. He did all of this because not only does he want me to win but, He wants to win. He is money driven and that is fine with me because he is getting the job done. There is only one reason why the VA didnt want lawyers involvement in claims(remember that bill that was signed into law)? The reason why they didnt want them is because the VA knows that with a lawyer it is going to be hard to walk on the veterans anymore. I mean come on they specialize in these regulations. Who champions the rights for veterans when no one will stand for them, or when they cant stand for themselves?

Tower Rat

[john999]

Tower Rat

My DAV SO never even returned my phone calls and dodged me every chance he got. The DAV just processed the paperwork I gave them. I don't think they even looked at my claim until the day they sat down with the RO for a few minutes. I think the vet is better off by far to have a lawyer on their side. I think it would be day and night difference. My SO used to make fun of the vets he was supposed to help, and I heard him making remarks about a wheelchair bound vet who saw him before me in the office one day. He wanted me to drop my IU appeal when I got 70% because he said my appeal was complete. I stoped talking to him at that point and just gave the evidence directly to the VA.

[sixthscents]

Ummm... I tend to agree that a laywer would increase the chances that a veterans case will be "perfected", and presented in the most favorable light with the proper evidence to support the desired conclusion. Yep, thats good business for the laywer. Now that doesnt say the vet cant do the same thing themselves, but theres a learning curve and vets simply often do not have the necessary tools to deal with a case properly. Not saying thats their fault, just stating the facts at hand.

I think that the VA HATES the idea of laywers involved in the claims process. I think the believe ... probably rightly so, that it will cause an even greater backlog of claims, so I suppose the idiots should hire more RO's (like thats ever going to happen!)...

Personally I think that SO's have all the helpfulness of a brick. There are the exceptions, but my experience has been that they are either ineffective, or incompetent, or both. I have seen so many claims that have been totally mangled by an SO who just shot a quick claim up with little or no facts... and when the rating comes down they say there ya go...

My VSO was an AmVets guy who actually went so far as to write a letter to the VA saying that he believed I had been rated fairly and gotten all I deserved, this at 40%... I am now 170% schedular T&P... so obviously he was wrong. I think the SO's hate the idea of laywers just as much if not more than the VA.. They see their financial base withering beneath them as the process takes root and grows. While the VO's have done good service (for the most part) at the national level in getting funding and laws passes, they simply fail at the grassroots level.

So, alll in all I think laywers are a good idea, for GOOD claims. I dont think they will be any more effective in making an unfounded claim stick that the vet themselves, but you will see just like social security laywers that they wont take a weak case. So maybe that would help in weeding out the crap thats forewarded to CAVC every day.

So, with a good claim, I think that most vets would probably benefit from having an attorney well versed in VA law represent them... but notice all the qualifiers I just put in there...

The laywer needs to know VA law, which a great many simply dont, but they are growing in numbers, and the claim has to have SOME basis in fact... not fantasy. With that said, personally I think laywers would help the system... but are not necessarily needed and I dont forsee a rush for laywers to suddenly become familiar with the VA system like social security laywers did and do. Its a smaller pool of clients, with a more convoluted system, when compared to social security (who wont even release HOW they arrive at their decisions or the formula used)... so the learning curve would be higher and I expect more laywers would require cash in hand to take the case...

anyway thats what I think...