Veterans Disability Lawyers

A veteran disability lawyer will guide you through the entire process of claiming. From assembling medical and service evidence to filing an appeal against a denied claim.

Choose a veterans disability attorney who focuses their practice on handling these cases and knows the VA's system inside and out. This will ensure that your case gets the attention it deserves.

Proving Service Connection

The VA will only grant disability benefits if it can be established that your condition is related to your military service. This is referred to as a nexus. There are a variety of evidence that you could prove this connection, including medical records as well as independent medical examinations (IME), and nexus letters from current health professionals or therapists (especially for mental health issues). Sometimes, veterans have medically determined disabilities, but are not able to be connected because of incomplete or missing military treatment records. These cases require the help of skilled New York disability attorneys who know how to present an entire claim and submit evidence that is backed up by independent experts.

It is much easier to establish direct service connection for illnesses or injuries that you sustained while in the military. For instance, if were hit in the head during your time in service and you are suffering from concussions and headaches, there is a clear connection between the two events and the current condition you are suffering from.

It is more difficult to be service-connected if there was a pre-existing condition that worsened while you were in military service. To prove that your time in the military was a catalyst for the worsening or aggravation of a pre-exist condition, you will need to provide expert medical evidence that is "clear and undisputed".

Appealing a Denial

After filing an application and providing medical evidence After submitting the application and providing medical evidence, the VA will examine the case. It typically issues a decision which either approves or denies benefits. If the decision is not favorable, the veteran is given one year to file a notice of disagreement. A veterans disability attorney can help the claimant navigate through the three decision review options: the supplemental claim, or a higher-level review, or an direct appeal before the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Consider whether the lawyer understands your military experiences and the traditions of the armed forces when selecting a New York veterans' disability lawyer. This will make it easier for you and lessen the necessity to explain your circumstances and experiences in layman's.

You want a firm who will handle your case throughout the multi-year appeals procedure. Beware of firms who only help you with the initial phases of your claim and then disappear.

A seasoned New York veterans disability attorney can help you through all phases of your claim, including the appeals process. They can help you submit more medical evidence, file an official hearing and represent you in any Board sessions to ensure that your case will be handled in a fair manner. They can also assist in obtaining you benefits such as assistance, monetary compensations and education benefits, attendance benefits, or unemployedness.

Getting a Higher Rating

It could be that your disability gets more severe or your symptoms become more severe. In that case, it makes sense to request a higher rating. A veterans disability lawyer can assist with this process, and they can help you dig up evidence to support your request.

It's not unusual for the VA to make mistakes that result in an lower disability rating than you deserve. It's worth contacting a professional to check your records for mistakes. They may have overlooked an injury or neglected to mention an issue that could be in conjunction with another disability to receive a higher rating.

You are still able to make a higher-level claim, or review if you've been assessed for more than a calendar year. This could include a thorough review of your entire file that could lead to changes to the effective date of your claim and the creation of a new rating that is more precise to your feelings.

If you believe you deserve a rating of 100 percent, or higher, it's worth applying for a supplemental claim. A disability attorney can assist you in putting together an argument that supports this type of rating, which is reserved for very difficult to treat disabilities. For instance mental health issues could be a reason to get a 100% disability rating due to the fact that it causes significant interference with employment or frequent periods of hospitalization. These don't normally trigger this type of an assessment for a cardiovascular disease or other medical issue.

Helping with the Appeals Process

Contrary to what some may think, the denial of a disability claim by the VA isn't the end of an individual's chance to collect benefits. In fact, a former servicemember can wait one year from date that the local veteran's hospital or office mails them a negative decision to file an appeal.

An experienced veterans disability attorney can assist a vet in determining which of the three pathways for appeal would be the most appropriate for his case. They can also help a vet in gathering the evidence needed to convince a higher-level reviewer their previous decision was not correct. They can give a veteran a more formal hearing in front of a Veterans Law judge.

The greatest benefit of having an New York veteran disability attorney handle your appeal is that they can give you the attention and care that your claim deserves. They also have a vast experience dealing with VA disability claims, and they know the rules and procedures from top to bottom. Additionally, some attorneys are veterans themselves, which means they are aware of the difficulties disabled veterans disability law firm have to face. This creates an unique type of empathy that can sometimes help improve the outcome of a disability claim for veterans.

Sullivan & Kehoe can review your VA disability claim for free to determine if we can help you. Call us today to schedule your free assessment.