Attig Law Firm P.L.L.C.

Veterans Disability Benefit Claims Resources

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The VA Claim process is extremely frustrating for those of us that practice law in more “refined forums” such as State and Federal District Courts.

Fortunately, attorney Chris Attig has spent the better part of his legal career fighting Federal Government Agencies - their silly rules, their obtuse interpretations of the law, and their propensity to choose form over substance.

This does not mean that the Attig Law Firm is any more or less likely to help you prevail in your claim. What it does mean is that, throughout the VA disability compensation claim process, you will have a trusted comrade by your side who knows this difficult terrain and can help you navigate that terrain a bit more safely.

Here is some information for you:

I. Brief Overview of the VA Claim for Disability Compensation Benefits.

II. Mr. Attig’s experience and qualifications as a VA Disability Compensation Benefits lawyer.

III. What criteria are important in seeking a lawyer to assist in my VA Disability Compensation?

I. Brief Overview of the VA Claim for Disability Compensation Benefits.

Here is a very general process that a typical VA claim for disability compensation will follow (you can learn more about the various actions the Veteran needs to take at each of the steps by visiting our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

In describing each of these levels, the average processing time and average probability of success has been included. These are not predictions of the future - only calculations from the past.

VA Regional Office (VARO)

The VA Regional Office is the starting point for all VA disability compensation claims. When a veteran files his or her claim for disability compensation, it first goes to the VA Regional Office geographically closest to the Veteran. The VARO is supposed to:

1. Collect all the service medical records required by law, and all those records relevant to the claim
2. Provide assistance to the Veteran in looking for and securing additional evidence in support of the Veteran’s claim.
3. Where necessary or appropriate, send the Veteran for medical examinations to assist the Veteran with obtaining a diagnosis of a current condition, the etiology (for purposes of service-connection) of the medical condition, or other criteria used to assist the VARO in determining the proper impairment rating for a service-connected disability or illness or condition.

The VARO can take a very short time, or a very long time, in deciding your claim. The statistical average is about 6-9 months, but lately we are seeing claims where the VA Regional Office is taking 12-18 months on the initial claim. The time depends quite a bit on which VA Regional Office you are working with, and the complexity of your claim. A tinnitus claim, for example, will be decided relatively quickly. A claim related to Agent Orange exposure for a Navy veteran claiming to be a Brown Water Navy Veteran will likely take much longer.

Board of Veterans Appeals

The Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) is located in Washington D.C. It is a part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and essentially provides administrative review of the VA’s denial of all or part of your claim for VA disability compensation.

After the VARO denies all or part of a Veteran’s claim, the Veteran will go through a process to “perfect the appeal” to the VA. This process - the Notice of Disagreement, the Statement of Case, and the Substantive Appeal - is explained in more detail in our Veterans Benefits FAQ and Veterans Benefits Blog.

You can select from the following types of hearings before the BVA:

1. in-person BVA hearing in Washington, Dc
2. Travel Board hearing at the local Regional Office
3. Video Conference hearing
4. No hearing

The possibilities, above, are organized in the order of longest wait to shortest wait. The individuals who will decide your claim are called “Veterans Law Judges”, and there are less than 100 of them deciding tens of thousands of claims every year.

For this reason, a BVA appeal can take approximately 2-3 years to reach decision, from the date of filing your Notice of Disagreement (NOD) to the date that the BVA issues its findings.

The Veteran’s appeal to the BVA will result in any number of outcomes:

1. Remand to the VARO for further development
2. Reverse the decision of the VARO
3. Deny the Veteran relief
4. Order its own Independent Medical Exam (IME)
5. Any combination of the above.

Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

If the Veteran’s claim for disability compensation is denied by the BVA, the Veteran has a specific timeline in which the Veteran may file an appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims was the product of 38 years of fighting by Veterans advocates and Veteran Service Organizations. In 1988, the Veterans’ Judicial Review Act of 1988 created this court, to give Veterans a judicial recourse when they were denied benefits.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims can take the following actions in deciding a Veteran’s Appeal:

1. Remand for further development (typically occurs in more than 50% of appeals to the CAVC).
2. Affirm the BVA decision
3. Reverse the BVA decision (a very rare occurrence)
4. Any combination of the above.

Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

If the Veteran loses at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the Veteran can appeal certain matters to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and, ultimately, the United States Supreme Court.

These types of appeals are very rare, and are usually only available to challenge improper interpretations of the laws, rules and regulations in a Veterans’ claim.

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II. Mr. Attig’s experience and qualifications as a VA Disability Compensation Benefits lawyer.

Mr. Attig has represented Veterans since the Attig Law Firm was created in November 2006. He has represented Veterans in USERRA claims, VEOA suits, and any number of other discrimination and wrongful termination/suspension cases.

Mr. Attig has represented Veterans in their claim for VA Disability compensation before a number of VA Regional Offices nationwide, before the Board of Veterans Appeals, and at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He has been accredited as a VA representative since accreditation program in 2008, and is admitted to practice before both the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (Fed Circuit). Mr. Attig has also participated in oral argument before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in a VEOA claim involving a Federal Executive Agency's hiring practices involving Veterans.

Attorney Chris Attig is a veteran himself, having served in the U.S. Army on active duty from 1993 - 1997, and in the reserves from 1997 to 2004. Mr. Attig was honorably discharged in 2004 as a Captain. He spent his time at a variety of posts around the U.S. and overseas - Ft. Bragg, Ft. Benning, Ft. Sill, Ft. Hood, and Camp Casey (Korea), to name a few. Mr. Attig is a graduate of U.S. Army Airborne School, and attended U.S. Army Ranger School. He knows the jargon of the military, he understands how things worked in the military, and he has a firm belief that even as a Veteran, he is still responsible for looking after the soldiers, sailors and airmen - enlisted, NCO and officer - that continue to serve our nation.

As a lawyer, Chris Attig has spent his career learning how to navigate the tangled web of government bureaucracy. He has clerked for, and served as an advocate for County governments, the Texas State Judiciary, and a Federal Executive Agency. As a private attorney, he has helped hundreds of Federal employees recover their jobs, and helped employees of nearly every Federal government agency recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in back-pay and other compensatory and consequential damages.

While Mr. Attig - indeed, no attorney - can guarantee that you will win your VA disability compensation or benefits claim, Mr. Attig does guarantee that throughout the battle, you will have a “tried-and-true” soldier and advocate by your side.

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These are not the only four (4) criteria you want to consider in choosing which attorney to retain, but they are four very important criteria:

1.Experience. VA disability claims are challenging. The law is confusing, and the procedure is a labyrinth of seemingly impenetrable red-tape. Make sure that whatever attorney you hire for your VA disability claim has handled a case like this before, understands the jargon, and knows his way around the “battlefield”. No attorney knows anything about VA Benefits, but make sure that your attorney has experience handling the type of claim you are pursuing.

2. Personality/Style. Many attorneys have a particular style - and there is no style that is wrong when dealing with the VA. Make sure that you know and understand your attorney’s style, and that it is a style and approach you are comfortable with.

3. Cost/Fee. Most Veterans Benefits lawyers work on a contingency basis - the industry “standard” is 20% of past-due benefits are the attorney’s fee for representation. There is nothing wrong or unlawful with an attorney charging a higher contingency percentage - I know attorneys that charge as much as 30% in VA Benefits claims. Make sure that you know what you are getting if you agree to a higher contingency fee for your attorney. Also, if you agree to a contingency fee higher than 20%, the VA will not directly pay the fee to your attorney - you will have to pay your attorney directly upon receipt of the award. This can open the door to fee disputes and resentment between attorneys and clients.

An attorney is entitled to recover costs, but some attorneys waive costs or reduce costs in VA Benefits claims; ask any attorney you talk to what costs you are responsible for and which the attorney will cover. Common costs in a VA disability claim include fax, postage, medical records requesting services, independent medical exams/opinions, and others.

The VA has rules about when an attorney can and cannot charge a fee for representation. For cases where a Notice of Disagreement is filed on/after June 20, 2007, an attorney can represent for a fee from the time the NOD is filed forward. Otherwise, the attorney may only represent pro-bono. Increasingly, I hear attorneys tell veterans that they are not allowed to represent the veteran prior to the filing of a NOD - this is absolutely untrue. An attorney can represent before the VA Regional Office - but the attorney cannot charge a fee. A recommended and acceptable practice can be for the attorney to represent the veteran pro-bono before the VA Regional Office, and then enter a contingency fee contract, if the Veteran wishes to continue with the lawyer, at the time the NOD will be filed.

4. Rate of Success. An attorney’s likelihood of success in your claim is the least important question for an attorney. Statistics about the merits of legal claims and the time they will take are inherently unreliable, and an attorney’s likelihood of success in your claim is the least important question for an attorney. After all, Christopher Columbus had never gone to America before he asked the Portuguese Crown for money for his voyage - but he did have considerable skill as a sailor and a seaman. You want the same thing in your attorney: a patient, educated and creative guide that can look at the seas and tell what storms are coming, what hazards lie beneath the water, and not necessarily when exactly you will reach land.