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DAV TEAMS WITH ATTORNEYS TO HELP INJURED TROOPS
--
The new partnership is aimed at exerting
additional pressure on
a Defense Department they say remains
inattentive to veterans'
needs. Lawsuits could quickly follow in federal
court.
With all of the hoopla recently about the DAV
not wanting attorneys in the VA claims process, this is truly an
interesting story. More on DAV and attorneys here, with
backlinks...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/
nf07/nfMAR07/nf030807-8.htm
But, the DAV tells me this is different.
The DAV opposes attorneys who might charge a fee for their services
(usually no more than 20% of back benefits awarded) but they have no
problem with attorneys who work pro bono (for free).
As one DAV official told me today: "Pro
bono is good, fees are bad."
I don't agree with this. Veterans should
have the right to choose an attorney to help them with a VA claim if
they wish. It's a right veterans have been denied for too long.
Be that as it may, I must congratulate the DAV
for working with these attorneys to help the troops who are getting
shafted by the military when it comes to their disability ratings.
I hope this program works well!
AP story here...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.
com/national/1152AP_Vet
erans_Care_Lawyers.html
Story below:
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Vet group, lawyers team to help soldiers
By HOPE YEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The nation's largest organization of disabled veterans is
convinced that injured troops are being shortchanged on disability
benefits and have hired lawyers to help them.
The Disabled American Veterans is teaming up with three major law firms.
It says that injured troops - many of them returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan - are getting only a fraction of the government benefits
they are entitled to under federal law.
Their new partnership, announced Wednesday, is aimed at exerting
additional pressure on a Defense Department they say remains inattentive
to veterans' needs. Lawsuits could quickly follow in federal court.
Ronald L. Smith, deputy general counsel for DAV, said the Pentagon has
been responsive in correcting problems of mold, peeling paint and
cockroaches in outpatient rooms following reports earlier this year of
shoddy treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
But little has been done about the Army's unwieldy disability ratings
system, Smith said. Earlier this year, retired Lt. Gen. James Terry
Scott, chairman of the federal Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission,
suggested to Congress there could be a systematic effort to underrate
disabilities to lower benefits and keep military costs down.
A preliminary review by Scott's group of Pentagon and Veterans Affairs
data found the Army was much more likely than the other active forces to
assign a disability rating of less than 30 percent - the typical cutoff
- to determine whether a person can get lifetime retirement payments and
health care.
"These injustices are severe compared to the peeling paint at Walter
Reed," Smith said, calling the disparities "inexplicable."
The three law firms - King & Spalding, Foley & Lardner and LeBoeuf,
Lamb, Greene & MacRae - will begin to provide lawyers free of charge to
patients at Walter Reed, which typically hears 80 cases a month.
The focus will be providing legal representation before the Army's
physical and medical evaluation boards, which the Pentagon has
acknowledged is unwieldy. Currently, injured soldiers may receive some
help from groups such as DAV or military lawyers whom veterans advocates
say are more loyal to the Army system.
Depending on response, the effort may be expanded to military hospitals
elsewhere, with lawsuits filed to force compliance with federal law,
which requires that the "benefit of the doubt" be given to veterans in
disability claims.
Lawyers said they looked forward to ensuring that injured soldiers get
"every benefit they are entitled under the law."
"Whatever our view is on current conflicts in the world, whether Iraq or
Afghanistan, injured soldiers should receive the level of service that
they have given us," said Steven Lambert, who chairs the pro bono
committee in Foley & Lardner's Washington office.
"That simply is not occurring, and that is wrong," he said.
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Below is a DAV press release about this program.
As of this writing, it was not posted on the DAV web site, but should be
soon.
Press release below:
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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David E. Autry, Disabled American Veterans
Law Firms Offer Free Representation to Disabled Soldiers
The Disabled American Veterans is pleased to announce a unique
partnership with three prominent national law firms that have agreed to
provide free legal representation for injured soldiers at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in navigating the military’s disability evaluation
and rating system.
The law firms, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, King & Spalding and Foley
& Lardner contacted the DAV after learning that many service members
with disabilities are faced with navigating the disability evaluating
and rating process without the benefit of representation. “The law firms
wanted to know if there was something they could do to help protect the
rights of those injured soldiers who have given so much of themselves to
protect us,” said Ronald L. Smith, DAV deputy general counsel.
“The DAV has decades of experience with the military’s disability
evaluation and rating process,” said Smith. “Our professionally trained
benefits counselors have considerable expertise in reviewing service
medical records and representing clients before military Medical
Evaluation Boards and Physical Evaluation Boards. And the DAV has agreed
to provide attorneys with these law firms some training and guidance
regarding the unique nature of the military disability rating system.”
“Our attorneys are very pleased to be able to be of service in this way
to these heroes who have been of such service to all Americans,” said
Elizabeth Sandza, Pro Bono Director for LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae,
LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, which was just named Pro Bono Firm of the
Year by the D.C. Bar.
“King and Spalding is honored to partner with Disabled American Veterans
to represent America’s veterans as they navigate the disability claims
process. Soldiers returning from military service deserve every benefit
to which they are entitled under the law, and this program will ensure
that each veteran is properly represented in those proceedings,” said
Wick Sollers, Managing Partner of King & Spalding's Washington, D.C.
office. “King and Spalding has a long and proud tradition of serving the
community though its pro bono activities. More than two-thirds of our
attorneys perform pro bono work on behalf of a variety of clients,
including: Victims of domestic violence, American workers who lose jobs
to overseas competition, Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane
Katrina, Immigrants seeking political or religious asylum, Indigent
criminal defendants, and Tenants facing eviction.”
“The professionals at Foley & Lardner LLP take our responsibility for
pro bono and community service very seriously. We are excited to be part
of this very worthwhile endeavor and will strive to provide
representation of the highest quality to folks who have, by their
dedication and service to our nation, sacrificed so much,” said Steven
C. Lambert, chair of the Pro Bono Committee in Foley & Lardner’s
Washington D.C., office.
The 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit
organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932,
represents this nation’s disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single
purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and
their families. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site
www.dav.org.
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Larry Scott --
