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What to expect when you meet with an attorney: Knowledge is Power
Written by Mary Huntsman, Esq.
For someone who is an attorney, speaking with another attorney seems like no big deal, but for someone who has never hired an attorney or even spoken with one, it can be a little intimidating. I understand this and that is why I would like to take some time and describe what someone can expect when they come in to meet with an attorney at Moon Law Group.
All of our initial consultations are always free.
Read More»How can a Florida attorney assist a veteran with benefits?
We at the Moon Law Group would like to help all veterans with every problem that they may have. We do, however, have to focus on a few key areas where we can make the biggest difference in getting veterans the disability compensation they are owed by the VA.
While we would like to be able to handle initial claims for service-connection, we only have the time to handle veterans benefits appeals, mainly. This means that if you have been denied compensation benefits by the VA and wish to appeal the VA’s decision, you may hire an attorney to handle your appeal as early as at your local regional office. In order to preserve your case, you must file the Notice of Disagreement with your local VA regional office within one-year of VA’s rating decision on your disability claim. Once you have filed your Notice of Disagreement with your local VA regional office, you are then able to hire an attorney to handle your case.
We at the Moon Law Group know the length of time that an appeal can take. Since we are located in the Tampa Bay region of Florida and have an office that is close to the Bay Pines Regional Office, we are able to hopefully provide you with the speedy assistance of reviewing your file without the waiting period of having the VA send the VA regional office claims file to us or to the veteran. This means less waiting time for the veteran’s case.
Getting an Earlier Effective Date Part 2: The Importance of New and Material evidence
New and Material Evidence (“NME”) is an important concept for veterans to understand when appealing your VA disability compensation claim denial or disagreement with the VA.While NME has been subject to much scrutiny in litigation over the definition and application of what exactly NME means, veterans should understand that the term means evidence that was “not previously before the VA decisionmakers,” and that the evidence “relates to an unestablished fact necessary to [prove] the claim.”
Let us consider the scenario in the previous article where the veteran had an unadjudicated claim in 1990, but instead of the case where the VA grants the claim, the VA here denies the veterans 1995 claim. How can the veteran preserve the earlier effective-date of 1990?
Answer, through new and material evidence during the one-year time the veteran has to appeal the VA’s decision on their claim.
If there is no appeal and no NME submitted during the veteran’s one-year time to appeal a VA decision on their claim, then yes, the veteran must start the claims process over (but the veteran should understand that they may have filed an informal claim for benefits after their denial, and that there may be unadjudicated claim(s) still open, so long as there is no subsequent denial of a newer claim for the same disability).
Most importantly, it may be the case that during the one-year time to appeal the VA’s decision the veteran received medical treatment at a VA medical facility for the same condition, and such treatment is relevant to the earlier denied claim. This evidence should be considered New and Material Evidence and the veteran may be able to get an earlier effective date based on this evidence if the claim is later granted.
The moral of this story is to remember to submit New and Material Evidence during one-year time to appeal if your claim is denied, because doing so could preserve the date of your earlier claim and a larger retroactive benefit.
Getting an earlier effective date through unadjudicated claims
There are a few ways to get an earlier effective date for your claim. One of the rules to establish an earlier effective date is if the VA never made a decision on a prior claim.
To illustrate the rule, consider a veteran makes a claim for compensation in 1990 and for whatever reason, the VA never does anything with the claim. If the veteran files again in 1995 and is subsequently denied, then the claim is over if the veteran does not appeal the decision within one-year. But what if the VA granted the second claim in 1995?
If the VA ignores the first claim and then subsequently grants the second claim for the SAME condition, then the effective date for the 1995 claim is 1990 in the above scenario.
The first question to ask is when did the veteran tell the VA in writing that they wanted compensation for their disabilities connected to their service? Second, did the VA adjudicate the claim? If not, then the date of the unadjudicated claim should be the proper effective date.
For questions about Earlier Effective Dates, (legal advertisement) contact the Moon Law Group today!
Veterans: You only have one year to appeal your effective date, a very short time to act…
REMEMBER: Veterans have ONLY ONE-YEAR to appeal the effective date of VA’s most recent rating decision on their case. A one-year statute of limitations is a VERY SHORT TIME period to appeal, however, this is VA REALITY. It is extremely important to understand how the one-year limitation will affect your case. If you miss your opportunity to appeal VA’s rating decision, then you fall into one of two categories.
First, VA really missed something important (a non-debatable error or “clear and unmistakable error”), or second, you “go to the back of the line” and must file a new claim!
There is also reopening the previously denied claim using “new and material evidence,” however, if you reopen your claim, the effective date will be the date the claim was reopened, NOT the date the earlier denied claim’s effective date (ouch!).
If you know or think that your one-year appeal period is ending soon, contact us today and help us help you preserve the date of your original claim!
Obama speaks about Joining Forces, tax credits for employers hiring veterans, DOL assistance
In her article “Obama Announces Veteran Workforce Initiatives,” Karen Parrish writing for the American Forces Press Service discussed President Obama’s announcement of a “series of administrative initiatives to help military veterans find jobs.” President Obama primarily announced three key proposals.
The first proposal is a set of tax credits for companies that hire veterans. Secondly, Obama proposed a task force designed to create for veterans an easier path to transition from military to “civilian jobs or higher education.” And finally, Obama issued a challenge to private industry to “hire more veterans.” Obama spoke about the current situation where many veterans’ military skills do not match those needed for civilian jobs.
According to the article, “as of June, a million veterans were unemployed, and the jobless rate for post-9/11 vets was 13.3 percent.” The Obama administration expects another one million veterans to return to the civilian workplace within the next five years.
President Obama spoke of military heroes with highly valuable skill sets that should transition well to civilian jobs saying, “if you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in an ambulance in Wyoming…if you can oversee millions of dollars in assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home.”
To assist veterans get new jobs, the new task force that the Obama administration will create will “develop reforms, including a ‘reverse boot camp,’ to ensure service members receive the training, education, and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workplace or to pursue higher education.”
Further, President Obama discussed a Department of Labor initiative to develop “one-stop career centers” to act like a type of employment agency that matches veterans looking for work with companies looking to hire.
Additionally, to give companies incentive to hire veterans, President Obama announced the proposed “Returning Heroes” tax credit to companies hiring veterans and an increase in tax credits to those companies currently employing disabled veterans. The former will be a $2,400 credit for short-term and $4,800 for long-term hire. The latter or “Wounded Warriors” tax credit will be $9,600 for those firms hiring service-connected disabled veterans out of work for at least six months, while $4,800 for all other service-connected disabled veterans.
President Obama ended with his challenge that by 2013, “100,000 unemployed post-9/11 veterans or their spouses” be trained and/or hired.
General Chiarelli talks about the problems and complexities of VA disability evaluation system
Discussed in an article by Elaine Sanchez of the American Forces Press Service entitled, “Wounded Warriors, Families Deserve Best Care, Chiarelli Says,” Gen. Peter Chiarelli outlined the problems that veterans face when seeking disability compensation from the VA. Gen. Chiarelli called the current system “complex, disjointed, hard to understand, and it takes too long to complete.” A major issue that VA faces in their evaluation system, according to Gen. Chiarelli is traumatic brain injury (“TBI”).
TBI evaluation is problematic in the “latency of symptoms” that makes discovering and treating TBI injuries more difficult and take more time to process. While TBI remains a problem for VA, Gen. Chiarelli “praised the creation of the Army’s Warrior Transition Command” and the program’s goal to “foster every individual’s independence.”
According to the article, the DOD and VA will develop a “new Integrated Disability Evaluation System to streamline the delivery of disability services and benefits for wounded, ill, and injured service members.” The new system, if properly implemented would be great if it could assist reducing the time it takes for eligible veterans to receive the compensation owed to them.
According to the article, the average time it takes to receive compensation and benefits is 258 days, with that number reflecting a 48 percent increase in the time it takes to full process claims. DOD and VA will have implemented the new system by October 1, 2011 at 38 Army installations.
In addition, Gen. Chiarelli mentioned the importance of getting the integrated evaluation system implemented in terms of increasing claim processing efficiency. Gen. Chiarelli also said that the military is “working hard” so that Reserve and Guard soldiers are given the same treatment as other service members.
Veteran entrepreneurs get help through Entrepreneurial Bootcamp
According to Donna Miles of the Armed Forces Press Service (see the full article here from Defense.gov, http://www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64871), disabled veterans like Army 1st Sargent Renee Floyd can take advantage of veteran entrepreneurship services.
There is the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp program for Veterans with Disabilities in Tallahassee, FL at Florida State University. FSU is part of a seven school consortium that began in 2001 at Syracuse University in 2001.
According to the article, the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for veterans is a nine-day course that is designed to both start new businesses and grow existing businesses. The course is focused on business issues, like developing a business plan, raising capital, and business operations.
The program is paid for by local universities with funds coming from alumni, entrepreneurs, and local businesses. After the course, participating veterans receive a year further of mentoring and assistance from the program.
Retired Army 1st Sgt. Renee Floyd participated in the bootcamp for veterans with disabilities. Floyd began her business, BRF Mobile Lube Service in Alabama in 2009. Her business is to “[travel] to people’s homes and businesses to provide convenient oil changes and maintenance services.”
According to the FSU program director, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Randy Blass says that entrepreneurship gives veterans an outlet to create an identity for themselves, and to fill a void that simply “getting a job” cannot provide. Further, Blass explains that when veterans leave the military, they can develop a psychological identity problem, which starting a business can help veterans solve such psychological issues.
While the bootcamp is not for all veterans, it does provide a tremendous opportunity for those veterans that are very serious about putting their ideas and skills to work.
Article outlines positive benefits of the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces program, focus on leadership and technical training
According to Lisa Daniel of the Armed Forces Press Service, Army Major General Jon J. Miller discussed the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces program with human resource managers at the Veterans Employment Symposium on July 27 in Washington D.C. The program’s goal is to link employers with qualified veteran job candidates and according to Miller, the hiring of “reservists and veterans is a positive investment for America (see the full Defense.com article here, http://www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64847).”
According to Miller, the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces program acts like a “monster.com,” for all veterans and reservists. Miller noted the wide variety of fields the military trains its soldiers like engineering, logistics, construction, transportation, and health care. Further, Miller noted that the hiring of veterans is smart because of the amount of resources that went into the technical and leadership training the veteran received from the military.
Taking the program a step further, Navy Vice Admiral Kevin McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (“NSSC”) discussed with symposium participants the focus of NSSC on hiring “wounded warriors,” and those veterans with a service-connected disability of at least 30-percent. So far, the NSSC hired around 700 wounded warriors since 2009.
Amvets
Brandon Chamber
Brandon Foundation
Emergency Care Help Organization of Brandon
Hillsborough Bar Association