A question I hear often is whether I have had success in getting difficult claims granted. There are a lot of lawyers who say that they are veterans’ advocates, but the proof is in a successful track record.

Proven Results For VA Claims and Appeals


A question I hear often is whether I have had success in getting difficult claims granted. There are a lot of lawyers who say that they are veterans’ advocates, but the proof is in a successful track record.

Since starting my practice in 2005 I have obtained more than $3 million in retroactive awards for clients whose claims were repeatedly denied by VA. I obtain evidence to support claims, and I conduct legal research on cases. Decisions on claims are based on law—this is administrative law, just as tax law is.

VA claims have become more complex over the past 20 years, and the technical experience I bring leads to results.

Sucesses on the Board


Click on the links below to see some of my successes at the Board.

Decisions
Service connection for schizophrenia granted
Service connection for tongue cancer secondary to herbicide exposure granted
Service connection for arthritis granted
Service connection for multiple myeloma secondary to radiation granted
Earlier effective date for unemployability granted
Service connection for hip and back disorders granted


Service connection for the cause of death granted
Service connection for peptic ulcer granted
Service connection for cancer secondary to radiation
Earlier effective date granted
Cause of death found


Earlier effective date for PTSD found
Service connection for a back disorder granted
Service connection for PTSD granted
100 percent rating assigned
Service connection for a psychiatric disability found


Evaluation of cold injury after CUE found at Veterans Court
Earlier effective date found
Individual unemployability found
Service connection for Hepatitis C found
Earlier effective date found
Service connection for diabetes mellitus found

Published Cases
Bissonnette v. Principi, 18 Vet. App. 105, 110-11 (2004)
Dingess v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 473, 493 (2006), aff'd sub nom. Hartman v. Nicholson, 483 F.3d 1311, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2007)
Dunlap v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 112 (2007)
Brown v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 290 (2007)
Douglas v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 19 (2009)

Why Hire an Attorney for VA Claims and Appeals?

A lot of people ask whether they should seek an attorney in their VA claims. Many are happy with no-cost representation offered by many volunteer organizations, including veterans’ service organizations or free legal clinics offered by many law schools. Others become disappointed - it seems as if a different person is handling their case with every different telephone call. Still other claimants become baffled by the flood of paperwork that VA sends them, apparently written in bureaucratese, not English.

I sincerely believe that an attorney who is experienced with the VA bureaucracy and understands what VA decisionmakers require is the difference between a claim being granted or being denied. And I also sincerely believe that a successful claim is the difference between living in quiet dignity and being a burden on loved ones.

Why Hire Me to Represent You?


In a word, "Results." Since starting my practice in 2005 I have obtained more than $3 million in retroactive awards for clients whose claims were repeatedly denied by VA. I obtain evidence to support claims, and I conduct legal research on cases. Decisions on claims are based on law—this is administrative law, just as tax law is.

VA claims have become more complex over the past 20 years, and the technical experience I bring leads to results.