My Thoughts -
1. I did not know there was a currently a prohibition on hiring a lawyer.
2. It is a shame a lawyer would be required.
3. If I were king for a day, I would make the VA pick up the legal tab to resolve anything they should have gotten right the first time.
Bill Introduced to Lift Ban on Lawyers for Veterans
A bill which would allow veterans to hire
lawyers to represent them in their efforts to
obtain federal benefits from the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs has
been introduced by U.S. Senators Larry
Craig (R-Idaho) and Lindsey Graham
(R-South Carolina). Under current law,
all 24 million living veterans are
prohibited from hiring a lawyer to help
them navigate the Veterans Affairs system.
It is only after a veteran has spent months
and even years exhausting the extensive
VA administrative process that the veteran
then may retain counsel - a process that
often takes 3 or more years to complete.
Under the current appeals system, about
85 percent of veterans choose to be
represented by Veterans' Service
Organizations or state veterans
agency personnel.
