Veterans Disability Lawyers

A veteran disability lawyer can assist you throughout the entire claims process. From gathering medical and service evidence to filing an appeal against a denied claim.

Choose a veteran disability attorney who specializes in these kinds of cases and is acquainted with the VA system. 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 linked to your military experience. This is referred to as a nexus. You can use different types of evidence to prove the connection. These include medical records, independent health examinations (IME), or an nexus note from current health care providers (especially in the cases of mental health issues). There are times when veterans suffer from medically determinable disabilities but cannot get service connected due to incomplete or insufficient military treatment records. These cases require the assistance of experienced New York disability attorneys who are able to present an entire claim and submit evidence backed by impartial experts.

It is much easier to prove a direct connection when injuries or illnesses occurred while you were in the military. If you have been injured in the military, and now suffer from headaches or concussions, it's much easier to establish a direct connection to the service.

However, it is harder to get connected if you have a pre-existing medical condition that worsened while in the military. To prove that your time in the military aggravated or worsened a pre-existing condition, you will need to provide expert medical evidence that is "clear and irrefutable".

Appealing a Denial

The VA will review your case after you have submitted your application and provided medical evidence. It usually makes 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 lawyer for veterans disability law firm' disabilities can assist the applicant navigate the three possible review options which include an additional claim, a more extensive review, or a direct appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

When selecting a New York veterans disability lawyer, be sure to consider whether they can understand your military background and traditions of the armed forces. This will help you feel more comfortable and eliminate the need for you to describe your experiences and situations in plain language.

You also need a company that will work on your case for the duration of the appeals process over a period of years. Beware of companies that will only assist you in the initial stages of your claim, and then go away.

An experienced New York veterans' disability lawyer can assist you in all phases of the claim and appeals. They can help you submit more medical evidence, file an official hearing and represent you at any Board meetings to ensure your case will be dealt with without prejudice. They can also assist you to win your benefits, like monetary compensation, aid and attendance, educational benefits or unemployment benefits.

How do I obtain a higher rating

It could happen that your disability gets worse or your symptoms get more severe. In that case it's logical to request a higher rating. A veteran disability lawyer can help you with this process and assist you to gather evidence to back your claim.

It's not common for the VA to make mistakes that result in an under-reported disability rating than you're entitled to. It's a good idea to hire an expert to look over your records for mistakes. They might have missed an injury or left out any issue that could have been in conjunction with another disability to get an improved rating.

Even even if it's been more than one year since you made your initial rating decision, you still have the option of filing a higher-level review or supplemental claim. These include a review of your entire file, that could lead to changes to your effective date as well as a new rating more accurate to what you feel.

It's also worth looking into an additional claim or a more thorough review if you believe you are entitled to a disability rating of 100 percent or higher. A disability lawyer can help you create a compelling argument for this type of rating, which is reserved for very serious disabilities. A mental health problem like this one, for instance, may make you eligible for a 100 percentage disability rating since it can interfere with employment or result in frequent hospitalizations that are not typically triggering this level of severity for a heart problem or any other medical condition.

Need Help with the Appeals Process

Contrary to what some believe contrary to what many may think, the fact that a VA denial of disability benefits does not mean that a person is in no position to claim benefits. In fact, a former military member can wait one year from date that their local veterans hospital or office sends them a denial to file an appeal.

A skilled veteran disability lawyer can help a veteran decide which of the three appeals routes is best for their case. They can also assist with gathering the evidence needed to convince a higher-level reviewer that the previous decision was not right. They can even provide veterans with a more formal hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.

A New York veteran disability lawyer will give you the individual attention that your claim needs. They also have extensive experience handling VA disability claims and understand the rules and procedures in and out. Some lawyers are veterans, so they know the challenges that disabled veterans face. This creates a distinct type of empathy that can sometimes make a difference in the outcome of a case involving a disabled veteran.

Sullivan & Kehoe can review your VA disability claim for no cost to determine if we are able to help you. Contact us today to set up your free evaluation.