Will my lawyer still get paid if I remove as my POA?

[GulfWarVet1990]

Good evening, I hired a lawyer to represent me for OSA appeal last year. 

This year I am working on other claims on my own, and I want to remove the lawyer as my POA since he is not working on these claims.  

His compensation would be well earned and I want to make sure that he is paid for my OSA appeal, however, he should not get a percentage for claims that I am working on that he has not assisted or agreed to take on. 

Does anyone know if I remove the lawyer as my POA will he still get paid when my OSA claim is granted.  

Honestly I trying to avoid VA from automatically paying him if and when my other claims are granted. 

Thank you. 

 

 

[Mr cue]

I would believe that he and you would have to had did a new poa for the new claims.

But the VA will use the one poa and apply it to ever issue.

My advice is upload a statement explaining that he is only poa for just that case.

An not for the others you file by you self an hope they address it.

If they pay him on the other cases an you upload the statement you got a case an a way to fight it.

[Phury & Rhage]

The short answer is that it depends.  In order for VA to pay the attorney fee to the attorney, several requirements have to be met.  The 1st is that there is a valid "direct pay" fee agreement.  Keep in mind that fee agreements filed with the VA don't have any bearing on whether a client owes an attorney money.  That is a separate issue between client and attorney.  The only time that issue comes into play for VA is they have to determine if an attorney (current or former) performed work on a granted issue.  That evaluation is done on every award produced where there is a valid direct-pay agreement.  If there isn't a direct pay agreement, it doesn't mean the attorney won't get paid, he just won't get the money directly from VA out of your retro compensation and VA doesn't assess whether the attorney worked on the claim.

When VA does an assessment on attorney fee issues, they issue an Attorney Fee decision.  They will spell out what conclusions they reached and what actions they are proposing to take.  For instance, if there is a valid direct pay agreement of 20%, retro of $100,000, and the attorney worked on the granted issue, then the attorney fee decision would say that the attorney is entitled to $20,000 minus an administrative fee from the retro money.  HOWEVER, that decision comes with due process.  VA holds those attorney fees for 65 days before they can be released to the attorney.  During that time, the Veteran can appeal to the BVA (only the BVA hears contested claims and attorney fees are considered contested claims) to say they disagree with the decision to pay fees/the amount/etc.  In that case, the fees aren't released until the appeal is resolved by BVA.

If you revoke your attorney POA, whether they are eligible for future fees depends on the specific fee agreement you signed and whether the attorney waives their fees.  I've seen both types.  Any future awards are assessed to see if the current or former attorney did work on the granted issue and whether they waived any attorney fees associated with the granted issue.

Good luck,

Phury

[broncovet]

Check with your "fee agreement".  Does it limit it to ONE claim, such as at the cavc?  

And/or ask your attorney:  "Is this fee agreement limited to the CAVC/BVA or would it also apply if I win benefits at the Regional office on a different issue"?

ONE of my attorney's fee agreement's was limited to CAVC, while another one we agreed to CAVC representation, "and" also, at the BVA if indicated.  

Dont be afraid to ask, its a good question, and you should get an answer from him.  

Remember, the law prohibits Veterans from representation "until at least one denial". 

[ShrekTheTank]

19 minutes ago, broncovet said:

Check with your "fee agreement".  Does it limit it to ONE claim, such as at the cavc?  

And/or ask your attorney:  "Is this fee agreement limited to the CAVC/BVA or would it also apply if I win benefits at the Regional office on a different issue"?

ONE of my attorney's fee agreement's was limited to CAVC, while another one we agreed to CAVC representation, "and" also, at the BVA if indicated.  

Dont be afraid to ask, its a good question, and you should get an answer from him.  

Remember, the law prohibits Veterans from representation "until at least one denial". 

Once they do tell you get it in writing.  

[broncovet]

Before you fire your lawyer, remember, the ones I dealt with did not send you an email "every time" they filed a piece of paper with VA.  So, frankly, you dont know if "they are working them or not".  Remember, Va has millions of Veterans, and your attorney likely also has many, many other Veteran claimants.  

And, yes, my attorneys who have represented me did not return every call.  They made it clear they can not "hold our hand" and educate us on every VA policy or regulation.  Instead, we pay them to win us retro, if we want education in Veterans law, attend a college.  If, on the other hand, we want emotional support, get a counselor at VA.  Your attorney is neither of those.  

They "bill VA by the hour" to justify their fees, and talking to a Veteran listening to him complain about how long VA is taking, is not the kind of a thing the lawyer can write down as a conference for billing.  That is, its not "billable hours".   Frankly, your attorney probably does not want to listen to every "claimant theory" on what the attorney should do to get benefits.  He has reviewed your file, and is most likely taken actions he deems have the best chance of winning additional benefits.  

He really probably does not want to argue or debate with you the merits of all the claimants benefit theories.  You know, "what if we file Cue on 38 CFR 4.06?" or "Why hasnt the judge ruled on my claim yet?" or "Gee, that does not sound fair..why would VA do that?"  

Source:  My personal experience with at least 3 law firms who represented me on Veterans claims issues.  

Edited January 11, 2023 by broncovet

[GulfWarVet1990]

1 hour ago, shrekthetank1 said:

Once they do tell you get it in writing.  

Thanks Shrek.