Disabled American Veterans:
Lawyers bill unwarranted, costly to veterans
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ --
Federal legislation that would allow lawyers to charge veterans for
helping them file a claim for benefits from the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) is unnecessary and would increase costs to
veterans, said Disabled American Veterans National Commander Bradley
S. Barton.
Barton, who is himself an
attorney and a veterans advocate, said veterans should not
have to hire and pay a lawyer to help them with the largely
administrative claims process, which is designed to be open,
informal and helpful to veterans.
"The so-called Veterans' Choice of
Representation Act is unnecessary, and involvement of lawyers would
increase costs to veterans and to the VA without significantly
improving the process," Barton said.
"The VA is required to
assist veterans in completing and filing the relatively
informal application for benefits and then takes the
initiative to advance the claim through the appropriate
steps," Barton explained. "In addition, veterans can get
free help from the DAV's professionally trained National
Service Officers or other organizations in navigating the VA
claims process."
"The VA itself is opposed to the
legislation, noting that attorney fees would consume significant
amounts of payments under programs meant to benefit veterans,"
Barton said. "The VA would have to create a substantial new
bureaucracy to perform the additional accreditation and oversight
responsibilities. Instead the VA should use its scarce resources to
hire more claims adjudicators and provide them with the training
needed to improve the quality as well as timeliness of decisions."
Congress placed the duty on the VA
to ensure all alternative theories of entitlement are exhausted and
all laws and regulations pertinent to the case are considered and
applied. Currently, veterans may hire an attorney for advice and
counseling prior to filing a claim for benefits or after the VA
administrative proceedings have been completed.
Besides, there is no evidence that
attorneys would provide service superior to that rendered by
veterans service organization (VSO) representatives. In fiscal year
2005, for example, the Board of Veterans' Appeals granted one or
more of the benefits sought in 21.3 percent of the appeals in which
claimants were represented by attorneys, who have the luxury of hand
picking their clients. The board granted one or more of the benefits
sought in 22.3 percent of the cases in which a claimant was
represented by a veterans service organization.
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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,
http://www.dav.org.