This blog entry by the Attig Law Firm contains 3 places that Veterans should check before hiring an attorney to represent them at any stage of their claim.  But first, I’d like to explain why a Veteran would want to make these 3 checks.

In a nutshell – Veterans need to protect themselves against unscrupulous attorneys – or, attorneys that hold themselves out to be something that they are not.

Yes, the legal profession has a bad rap. And yes, there are more lawyer jokes than any other kind of joke (and as much as I hate how these jokes tear down my profession, I have to admit, some of them are pretty funny).

The Attig Law Firm has been providing original content in this blog to Veterans about the various levels of the claims process since 2007.   It has come to our attention that many law firms have been reposting the content in these blogs and passing it off as their own.   Further, other law firms have outright plagiarized content from our web site.

How does this affect the Veteran seeking compensation for his/her disability benefits?  Quite simply, the law firms that are stealing our content are passing themselves off as something that they are not – a law firm that provides information to assist veterans.  You see, there are two purposes for blogs:

1) Providing information and content to a particular audience on the internet.  This is what the Attig Law Firm has committed to doing for over 4 years.  We believe that information is power, and that the more information a Veteran has, the more that they can help themselves beat the VA Bureaucracy.  And, if Veterans that read our blog get frustrated fighting the VA bureaucracy, they can always consider seeking help from the Attig Law Firm.

2) Another reason for blogs is something called “Search Engine Optimization”, or SEO.  Here’s how it works – the search engines like “Google” and “Yahoo” have spiders that crawl the internet, looking for and sorting the information that appears.  Each page is ranked by its keywords and the amount of content on its site – among other factors….Google’s search-engine algorithm is a closely guarded secret.  The theory is that a website with certain keywords will be a good content match for a “searcher” looking for those keywords.  The search engines, like Google, reward websites like ours with high rankings because we provide relevant and useful content on a specific number of keywords.

Some less than scrupulous businesses out there leech off the hard work of other businesses, by reposting their original content.  You’ve seen the sites – search pages full of nothing but ads, blog “catalogs”, etc.    By reposting someone else’s content, they are boosting their search engine rankings without actually providing any original content.

[As I mention later, many websites properly and professionally repost our content - you can identify those sites as they give credit to our Firm for that information.  Here's an example of a credible and professional reposting site: http://www.lexisweb.com/Search.aspx?Query=court+of+appeals+for+veterans+claims ... notice how this site clearly gives credit to each original poster?]

How does this affect the Veteran?  I can answer that question by asking you to answer these two questions:

1) Which Firm seems more trustworthy and scrupulous – the one that posts original free content that is helpful to Veterans, or the one that steals that content and passes it off as their own to boost search engine rankings?

2) Which Firm do you think is more likely to cut corners on your case in order to “churn” many cases for a profit (these types of firms are referred to as “mills” – Bankruptcy Mills, Veterans Benefits Mills, etc.) – the firm that takes the time to prepare original and thorough free content to Veterans, or the Firm that steals that content, passes it off as its own, in an attempt to lure Veterans into their offices?

Here’s an example of one of the Firms that is reposting our threads and not providing us with the proper credit for providing original content:

Link to Firm that is passing off Attig Law Firm content as its own. (this link opens in a separate window).

[As of November 23, 2011, we have again asked this firm to please give us the proper credit for the original content they are reposting and implying is their own. As of this writing, we have not heard back.]

Compare our original post yesterday (November 22, 2011, posted about 7am): Attig Law Firm: How can a Veteran get their claim before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims?

To the plagiarizing firm’s post yesterday (November 22, 2011, posted about 4 hours later): Click here for link to the plagiarized post.

Exact copies of another firm’s content? Yes.  Let’s look a little deeper to see this firm’s experience in representing Veterans – as it purports to have on its site.

1) None of the attorneys listed in the Firm appear 0n the list of attorneys admitted to practice before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (as of November 23, 2011).

2) None of the attorneys at that firm have appeared in a Veterans’ appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims since – at least – October 10, 2008 (I didn’t check the database prior to October 10, 2008.

3) Only one of the firm’s attorneys appeared on the list of VA Attorneys accredited to represent Veterans by the VA Office of General Counsel (the VA won’t even respond to filings from non-accredited attorneys).

4) None of them appear to be members of the National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA).  (The Attig Law Firm has always recommended that Veterans look first at Veterans advocates that are affiliated with this organization, as members of NOVA voluntary commit to hold themselves to higher ethical standards than  other  practitioners.

[CAVEAT: It is possible that the failure of this firm to give us credit for our posts is benign - one firm that copied substantial portions of their website did so because a young intern tried to cut corners - that law firm took immediate corrective action and apologized for its oversight. In short, I am not saying the firm in the link above is unscrupulous, or that it is not competent to represent Veterans; I am only saying that it has failed to give proper credit for content that is not its own.]

Now, there are firms that we have authorized to repost our content – you will recognize these firms because my picture will show up, or the introduction will give credit to my Firm for the original content.  Here is an example (click to open link in new window).

In light of this, let’s add a few more checks for Veterans that are looking for an attorney to represent them:

1) Verify that the attorney is accredited by the VA Office of General Counsel to handle VA claims. Do not hire an attorney that is not accredited by the VA. Here is where you can check on a Veterans Attorney’s accreditation (go there, type in “Attig”, check the attorney block, and you will see that I am accredited.  The site won’t tell you, but I’ve been accredited since very early in that process – September 2008)

VA Office of General Counsel Accreditation Search (click to follow link)

2) Verify that the attorney is admitted to practice before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  Here is the site where you can check on that:

Attorneys Admitted to Practice before Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (click to follow link)

3) Check whether the attorney is a member of the National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA); I can’t think of a single viable reason that an attorney that represents Veterans would not be a NOVA member.  Here is the NOVA website:

National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA)…click to follow link.

It is my opinion, Veterans advocates that are not listed at each of the above three (3) places (VA Accreditation, CAVC admission, and NOVA membership) are not ideal choices to represent Veterans.  Others hold different opinions – that is just mine. I have seen one too many cases where a Veteran got bad advice or bad representation from law firms or attorneys that didn’t know what they were doing or that had no business representing that Veteran.

No post on this website is meant to be legal advice and the posts on this website do not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and we are providing this information to give you, the Veteran, some power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Veterans.  The information presented on this website is a general description of law and processes; each case is different, and there may be approaches listed here that are not accurate or applicable to your case. Likewise, their may be information that is applicable to your case that is not provided on this Veterans Disability Compensation Blog.

It is very important that we note that each and every Veteran’s claim is different. Just because we were able to secure substantial past-due benefits for one Veteran does not mean or imply that we will be able to do so for you.   In some cases, we may not be able to secure you any financial compensation due to the facts of your particular case.

It is best to consult with a lawyer familiar with VA Disability claims and benefits or a Veterans Service Organization to examine your particular case.  If you would like to discuss your VA claim with a lawyer who handles VA Benefits and Disability Appeals in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and all around the nation, contact the Attig Law Firm, PLLC, for a free consultation with a VA Benefits attorney.

The Attig Law Firm, PLLC, and VA benefits attorney Chris Attig, represents military Veterans in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma (as well as all around the nation) before the VA Regional Office, the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) in claims for disability compensationfrom the Department of Veterans Affairs.