VA Compensation For Service-Connected Disability

Has the VA denied you disability benefits or assigned a lower rating than you deserve?  The VA may have made a mistake when they denied your initial claims for service connection.  An initial denial of benefits does not mean you are not entitled to benefits.  We are here to help you with your appeal.

Veterans are often denied VA compensation benefits for disabilities that were caused by or incurred during their service to our country.  As a veteran, you deserve the compensation you are owed.  You earned these benefits when you were injured physically or mentally while serving our county.

Our firm is committed to helping veterans receive the VA disability benefits to which they are rightfully entitled.  We take pride in serving our veterans who have served our country.  We give every client the individualized care and attention they deserve.  We do not get paid until you do.

We represent veterans in a variety of claims and appeals.  I have experience arguing cases before the VA Regional Offices, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board), the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The time required to receive a VA rating decision after filing an initial claim for service connection discourages some veterans from even trying to get the benefits they need.  The Department of Veterans Affairs has been in the news a lot lately for its long wait times, scandals, and cover-ups.

Being denied VA benefits is more common than you think.  We are here to review your records and help you obtain higher percentage ratings and earlier effective dates when the material evidence has been overlooked or disregarded by the VA.  Many veterans do not know how to accurately determine their effective date or correct ratings.  The VA is often wrong when it issues the effective date for the disability.  A lot of the time, the VA will assign the date of the Veteran’s compensation and pension (C&P) examination date as the effective date for benefits.  Many veterans may not even realize that they are entitled to possibly years of backpay.  Many times, we have found that the Veteran is entitled to earlier effective dates than the VA rating decision originally granted.  We can help obtain the correct earlier effective dates and higher percentage ratings, which will result in higher retroactive (past-due) VA benefits.

One of the biggest complaints veterans have with the VA is that they just do not listen.  Our staff will listen to you and spend the time needed to truly understand your claims.

We will be honest with you and do all we can to maximize your benefits to the full extent that you are legally entitled.  The VA often denies Individual Unemployability (TDIU) benefits to a veteran who cannot work because of his service-connected disabilities.

We work with independent experts to help prove your mental and physical disabilities are service-connected so you can get the higher percentage ratings and earlier effective dates for the benefits you deserve.  We often work with medical doctors, psychiatrists, and vocational experts to help provide evidence to prove your disabilities are caused by your military service to our country.  The better your evidence, the more likely that your service connection claims will be granted and you will win your VA appeal.

Our team is experienced in assisting veterans with their appeals for a better outcome than their VA rating decisions and Board decisions have granted for a variety of disabilities such as Agent Orange exposure; burn pit exposure; cause of death or wrongful death; loss of limb and loss of use; major depression; mesothelioma; military sexual trauma (MST); psychiatric disabilities which include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia; traumatic brain injury (TBI); total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU rating); Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefits; Special Monthly Compensation (SMC); Dependency and Indemnity (DIC) claims; and accrued benefits.

We only charge an attorney’s fee if you win your VA claims and obtain retroactive (past due) benefits.  Our fee is a percentage of backpay plus the out-of-pocket case expenses (cost of doctors’ medical opinions, expert opinions, etc.) that are incurred directly on your case.  The VA will withhold a percentage of backpay for attorney fees.  You will only be responsible for paying for the case expenses when you receive your backpay from the VA.

Some veterans who are disabled apply for disability compensation and receive the compensation they deserve without much trouble.  Unfortunately, many veterans encounter problems during this process.  The VA provides confusing instructions and forms which are not helpful.  It fails to assist the veteran in completing his/her application, obtaining missing evidence, and ignores claims or theories raised by the veteran.  These issues cause many veterans to make unintended mistakes in their application or appeal.

The role of a lawyer is to simplify the confusing nature of the appeals process for the veteran’s VA rating decision and/or Board decision.  He must determine what claims for benefits have been filed (or should have been filed), what evidence exists, and what evidence is still required to prove these claims are related to service and prove the veteran’s degree of disability or unemployability.