Legal Question in Veterans Law in Georgia

Re: disability increase denied

it sounds like your are making a disability benefits claim against the VA. If you need representation and advice, I recommend you contact a veterans' organization, such as VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, etc. Under VA law, attorneys cannot charge fees to veterans at any stage before the case reaches the Court of Veterans Appeals. At that stage, the federal government must pay for your attorney pursuant to a fee schedule. The idea of this is supposedly that veterans not be taken advantage of by unsrupulous attorneys' as the VA law offers many levels of administrative and judicial appeals and reviews. In reality, though, it makes it very difficult for veterans to receive adequate legal counsel until considerable time has passed. At the initial stages, you can only be represented by either a pro bono (free volunteer)lawyer or a veterans' organization, which may pay the lawyer they hire to represent you. While I very occasionally take such cases pro bono, I am not in a position to do so at this time. However, if it reaches the point where you have appealed to the Board of Veterans' Appeals and are turned down, your next step will be the Court of Veteran's Appeals and at that stage I might very well be interested in taking your case. I am a Vietnam veteran myself, and would represent you very zealously with a strong belief in your cause. Good luck to you. You can contact me at [email protected], or by telephone at (770)534-1057. Good luck.

Re: disability increase denied

Just a follow-up. Another organization you should consider contacting for this type of claim is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).