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Guide to hiring a veterans benefits attorney
When do you call a lawyer?
To hire or “retain” a lawyer who will direct you to veterans disability benefits, you must first reject your request. A lawyer can usually not help you before this happens. You will be pleasantly surprised when I tell you that you can afford a great lawyer even if you are broke.
Legal fees
The most common form of payment is interest or ancillary fees, which for most veterans is the cheapest form of payment in most veteran services. In fact, a lawyer is only paid if (1) fees are incurred and (2) the amount is due to the veteran at the time of the decision.
The lawyer then receives a percentage (usually 20% to 33%) of the amount owed to the veteran when the grant is approved. This amount, also called retrospectively, corresponds to the amount owed to the veteran from the date of entry into force of the grant until the date of the grant.
If the decision was made after filing a complaint with the Commission and the effective date is the filing date of the application (as in most cases), the retroactive amount maybe 3 or Four years. If the matter is referred to the veterans benefits lawyer Council and vice versa, the retroactive period can be ten years or more.
Suppose a veteran takes legal action on January 1, 2004, and signs an agreement with a lawyer to pay a contingent liability of 20%. On January 1, 2008, the veteran received a 100% disability. The retroactive amount is a 100% monthly payment for the period from January 1, 2004, to January 1, 2008 (four years), which represents approximately $ 120,000 at current interest rates.
Lawyer’s fees are 20% of $ 120,000 or $ 24,000.
What will your lawyer do for you?
Many, but you won’t see most of them. It didn’t start much in the VA assignment process.
The lawyer will not call you regularly or inform you of news, and you will not have to call and check frequently.
As soon as you and the lawyer agree to the processing of your file, you have to fill in and sign additional documents. Now you and the lawyer have nothing more to say, while V.A. It will have no effect. There is nothing your lawyer can do to speed up the process.
You and your lawyer have no reason to stay in touch until VA takes action.
What will your lawyer NOT do for you?
They are lawyers, not magicians.
A lawyer cannot help you if you have no claim or recourse. The lawyer will not invent evidence or find out the truth. Experienced lawyers are perhaps the most qualified specialists in the world and have a range of professional licenses and certificates that are required to practice their profession. Your lawyer will not jeopardize this by only providing you with exactly that. The lawyer of your choice cannot help you with other problems that may arise while waiting for your request. Your veteran’s lawyer is licensed by VA to represent you only in this complaint or appeal. Other life problems you may encounter will not be dealt with by your experienced lawyer until you receive your call.
Harper Harrison is a reporter for The Hear UP. Harper got an internship at the NPR and worked as a reporter and producer. harper has also worked as a reporter for the Medium. Harper covers health and science for The Hear UP.