Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer It is rare for the US Supreme Court to take up a case involving veteran issues. In a recent decision known as Henderson, Justice Samuel Alito said, “The (Department of Veterans Affairs) is charged with the responsibility of assisting veterans in developing evidence that supports their claims, and in evaluating […]
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News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer My nephew is still in Afghanistan with the Marines. His year is almost up. My wife, a retired Brigadier General, and I pray he returns safely. But it is clear that not all families in this country are making sacrifices during this decade of war. While an all volunteer military is a good […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer We hear from veterans who served in Thailand, Korea, Japan, Philippines, etc., that claim to be exposed to Agent Orange. Boots on the ground in Vietnam results in presumed AO exposure. The evidence about certain Thailand bases is pretty solid. VA also recognizes spraying of AO around the Korean […]
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News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer So the government lets veterans hire lawyers, but it is not happy about that. When the VA is wrong at the Court of Appeals, which it is about 75% of the time, VA has to pay legal fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The fees are limited, but […]
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News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer A group of former military members are suing the senior leaders of DOD claiming they have been slow to change the DOD culture. They claim the senior leaders are tolerating rape and harassment of women service members. The suit was filed this week and NBC reported the story this […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer Vets were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Thailand and Korea. Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea will have an easier path to access quality health care and benefits under a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) final regulation that will expand the dates […]
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Claims Processing
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer Anyone involved with the VA disability system knows about the delays that quickly turn from months into years. It starts with the Regional Offices not being able to process the mail and get it in the correct file. It happens at the Board with the snail- slow transfer of […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Attorney We see so many errors by VA RO raters that technology improvements are warranted. A VA employee developed a hearing test calculator to automate the steps for determining compensation owed for varying degrees of hearing loss. After testing, the hearing loss calculator worked so well that VBA has rolled […]
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Claims Processing, Mental Health, PTSD
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Attorney Once again showing the differences between men and women in combat, VA recently reported that women appear more susceptible to depression than PTSD. The study looked at 246,976 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and 246,080 who served elsewhere. Among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, about […]
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News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer VA runs the largest health care system in the world. Most of the time the VA provides excellent health care. VA issues an annual report card on its services. The latest 200 page document reports that last year there were 62,686,340 outpatient visits in VA. The average number of […]
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