foreign
good afternoon and welcome to cck live my name is Jenna zellmer and joining me today
is Mike listrito the two of us are both attorneys representing veterans at both VA and at the court
of appeals for veterans claims and today we're going to be discussing why veterans should hire
an attorney or should consider hiring an attorney for their VA appeal so Mike why don't you start us
off with just a little bit of an appeals overview I think that'll kind of put this in context
absolutely um so when a VA claim is denied or a veteran is not satisfied with the rating that
they've been assigned um veterans have the option to appeal the decision um and strongly and should
consider doing so very strongly under the AMA which is uh appeals modernization act
the new appellate process for filing claims and appealing claims at the Department of Veterans
Affairs veterans have one year to file an appeal from the date that a rating decision was issued
uh under the AMA this is in some ways much more complicated than it used to be in what was known
as the old Legacy system uh because veterans now have three different lanes that they must select
from uh in order to properly appeal their case the first Lane is the higher level review Lane
um the second the supplemental claim lane or the third the notice of disagreement name uh
Lane which is also known as an appeal to the board of veterans appeals um and so this is complicated
because number one veterans have choices to choose from each with their own specific criteria and
advantages and disadvantages but each also creates within the AMA something known as
an evidentiary window and so you know in in some of these appeal options veterans are not
only allowed but required to submit evidence in others they're not allowed to submit evidence at
all so working through that can be a little complex um both the higher level review and
supplemental claim Lanes yield an additional rating decision after those appeals have been
um either denied or approved um and then you know if a veteran chooses to go to the board
and file as a notice of disagreement then that appeal will produce a board decision
so upon receiving a decision um veterans have the opportunity to appeal like we said but the
way that they can appeal is largely dependent upon the type of appeal that they submitted in
the first instance so this is another complicating Factor within the AMA so I'll walk us through some
of the different options so under the higher level review Lane if a veteran selects you know higher
level review appeal of a rating decision they'll then receive a higher level review decision and
response the veteran has one year to appeal that decision but they can only do so by filing
either a supplemental claim appeal or by filing a notice of disagreement they may not file a higher
level review appeal upon receiving a higher level review rating decision if the veteran receives a
supplemental claim rating decision so they file the supplemental claim appeal they now receive
a rating decision response the veteran again has one year to appeal but under this scenario
they have one year to file either a higher level review appeal another supplemental claim appeal
or they can file an appeal at the board if a veteran receives a board decision under the AMA
they can file a supplemental claim within one year by submitting or identifying new and
relevant evidence or they can appeal as they always have been able to to the court within
120 days and finally not to complicate matters further but if a veteran receives a CVC decision
um from the court they have one year to file a supplemental claim appeal or um they can file
you know at the federal circuit within 60 days and so there's you know without without getting into
too much detail hopefully you can see that there are a lot of options but with those options come
um sometimes a lot of confusion unfortunately yes it's it's a little bit of a Choose Your
Own Adventure with you know some consequences depending on what route you choose and that kind
of foreclosing other alternative routes in the future and it's very complicated we have a lot
of information on the different appeal Options under the AMA and on the AMA in General on our
website so I would encourage any Watchers um out there to take a look at that it has a nice
flow chart of all the different ways that you can file these sort of layers of feel um and
so you know while veterans can certainly file their own appeals without help um I think Mike
your overview really brings it into Focus how much having representation can be beneficial
and that representation can be an attorney or an accredited rep so an accredited rep is not
an attorney but it's someone who has been trained and recognized by VA as competent and educated in
veterans law in order to advise a veteran how to navigate the appeal system so that's just all to
say you know the AMA created a lot of options for appeals the idea of the AMA was to allow a
veteran choice and control but I think it also was very confusing and you know if you don't
submit evidence in the right time frame or if you fill out the wrong form um you know you're taking
a risk in terms of not completing the appeal in the way that VA requires you to appeal it so
you know a lot of times veterans who do handle appeals on their own might be unhappy with their
notice their their new decision which means that they're gonna have to start all over again as Mike
you outlined you know you can file a supplemental claim if you're unhappy with your decision but
that just means that you have to continue this long arduous process and so it can take longer
to get you know your Grant so the benefit of the AMA is that you can continue to file that
supplemental claim but the downside is that it could take longer and so it might be helpful to
seek assistance from either an attorney or someone who's recognized by a VA as an accredited agent
or even a veteran service organization someone who's really knowledgeable about the benefits
and pitfalls to all these different options so Mike why don't you kind of tell us about why
in more detail why a veteran would consider hiring an accredited rep or an attorney yeah so I think
there are several considerations that people should uh should think through so Representatives
um should have a deep understanding of va law all of the nuances and the complicating factors that
go along with it both in terms of kind of the the substantive nature of the law but also just the
you know the Appellate process and understanding how VA processes claims um this will really help
veterans to maximize their benefits perhaps they you know they may be able to file a claim and
have something granted but they may not know what they don't know and that might lead them
to not be able to maximize the benefits that are ultimately granted or or denied and so you know
a representative should be able to understand va's rating schedule for their VA disability
claims be familiar with the various conditions um that are possible to be related or or to be rated
or to be service connected like I said under the nuances and the regulations you know now
that we are working in the um the AMA world as we kind of talked about um it's I think it's fair to
say it's more complicated now than it's ever been not only do veterans have to navigate through the
new AMA system but they potentially might have claims in the old system that are working their
way through the appeal process simultaneously and so an understanding of both systems at the same
time how they work together and the benefits and the pitfalls of each is is really critical
you know here at cck um I I can say our attorneys have been involved with the legislative process
and many precedents any cases that have really set the standard for how many claims are rated
how conditions can get service connected um and so you know on our website I know we have a whole
list of different cases that we've worked on been part of uh you know participated at oral argument
um and so you know we really um and other Representatives too have been part of that
process but that is an added feature I think that Representatives can bring to the table you know a
second thing a second consideration is that Representatives can help develop a stronger
appeal to get a more favorable decision the first time around and so I think any
veteran that's been doing this for a while knows that oftentimes Unfortunately they may have to
file appeal upon appeal upon appeal to finally many years down the road get a favorable result
um you know what Representatives can do is add value in the sense that
um just they can you know appeal a decision in a way or choose a lane particularly in ama that
can maybe lead to a faster more favorable decision um rather than having to take the
appeal down multiple uh appellate steps for instance in the AMA you know there are three
options as we discussed in order to appeal you know an unsatisfactory rating decision
choosing any of them may not necessarily be the incorrect choice but choosing one of those three
appeal options instead of the others may lead to a faster decision it may lead to VA going
and obtaining evidence that it otherwise would not be permitted to do it may lead to a veteran
or you know the veterans representative submitting evidence that they otherwise would not be allowed
to submit and so you know those are things that a representative should know how to navigate that
get very tricky very quickly in the UAMS you know a third consideration and this is something I do
in my practice every single day is help veterans gather the required evidence to support their case
and so whether it's a claim or an appeal for service connection um for increased rating for
tdiu whatever it may be oftentimes additional evidence is needed in order to win the case
and so this evidence can come in many forms it can come from uh you know expert opinions that a
representative may be able to provide uh you know treatment records obtaining treatment records of
training obtaining affidavits and lay statements or just making a legal argument in a legal
brief but those are things that Representatives should be able to do to help support your case
um you know another consideration is that claims and appeals um of course you know they can be
they can be filed but it's one thing to file them um correctly and in a timely manner and
that's really the key is to to file a claim and an appeal and meet the deadline and so you know
at least speaking for us here at cck we keep very close track of all deadlines and make sure that
you know the cases are moving along and we're able to you know to monitor when a deadline is
approaching make sure that it is appropriately appealed other Representatives I know
um Can can do that as well um but you know it like I said claims and appeals being filed correctly in
a timely manner can really make the difference between a veteran obtaining a benefit with you
know 10 years of retroactive pay or obtaining a benefit from you know the date that they filed
going forward and that can make a big difference in a veterans uh financial situation and in their
life and finally I'd say you know one thing um that a representative can really do or at least
some Representatives can do is advocate for a client at court if the need arises and so
as we mentioned a little earlier you know if a veteran receives an unfavorable board decision
they have the option still in the AMA system to appeal that board decision to court within 120
days and so um you know Representatives who are admitted at court who can practice at court who
have experienced practicing at court will be able to potentially further appeal a case uh you know
um understanding the kind of the complex nature and what is involved
with practicing at a federal tribunal yeah I think that's that's a really good point
all of the appeal option deadlines at VA are within one year it's not until you get to the
court level that your appeal deadline is 120 days and so that's something that attorneys who
regularly practice at court are very familiar with including myself and you know if you're
represented if you're unrepresented as a veteran and you're used to the one-year deadline you
might not know that it's a lot quicker if you want to appeal it to court you have to do it
within three three or four months and so I think the other thing that you know kind of
kind of came up in my head while you were talking about deadlines and Gathering evidence is that
attorneys or accredited rep are still familiar with deadlines and they're so familiar with
Gathering evidence that they can use those two things strategically and so they know how long
it takes to gather a certain type of evidence they know how long it takes to get an expert
opinion on something or treatment records and so you know knowing that you have one year deadline
to do all of that you can work within that one year and be efficient while also making sure that
you're building the strongest case within that year rather than just making sure that you file
a form on that 364th day right but without doing anything in that full year time period the point
of the year period is to allow you the option to kind of weigh your options and allow you time to
gather evidence or make arguments and so you know if you're not having help from an accredited rep
or an attorney you might not kind of be thinking about that in the back of your head and you might
just realize oh my gosh it's almost the one year time period And I haven't done anything I have to
file this form really quickly um and so attorneys kind of take that burden off of you and do the
heavy lifting for you in that time period and you know Jenna just one one other thing I was thinking
um particularly as it relates to veterans and appealing a board decision to court it
at least in my experience not many veterans have the experience of filing um you know the notice
of appeal or any other related documents at court it's really a very specific process a
unique process something that I found not many veterans have experience with and so kind of the
inside knowledge that a representative I think can provide with appealing a case to court is uh
is really important for those sorts of cases in particular definitely and that's a really good
point because the court system I think it's really important to note and we we've mentioned this in
other videos but it's always important to repeat it is that the court is completely different from
VA and so veterans who are used to operating within the VA system try to appeal to court
and are confused about the adversarial process VA at that point is going to have an attorney
representing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that attorney is going to be arguing to the court
about why the board made a correct decision and so it's really it's important to be on even playing
fields there and to have an equally knowledgeable attorney representing your side as a veteran and
explaining to the court why the board's decision was wrong I think that's a really good point Mike
great like do you have any closing thoughts no I don't I think um you know I just I just
think again you know with AMA um it's really changed the game in a lot of ways so to speak and
um I just want to emphasize again that you know as of as of now the two systems the old Legacy appeal
system and the AMA system are working together um and you know people that are pursuing claims
and appeals either on their own or with you know a representative accredited representative um really
need to understand how both systems work and how they work independently but also together I mean
that's going to be really important for ultimately the success of your case great I think that's a
great closing thought so for more information on choosing the right representative to assist
you in your appeal please check out our website we also have a ton of information on our blog and on
our other videos on um YouTube and so thank you so much for tuning in to learn more about claims and
appeals and VA benefits in general you can visit our blog and browse our other videos and please
be sure to like this video And subscribe to our Channel thanks for joining me today Mike foreign