5 Reasons the VA Keeps Screwing Up Your Claim &

How YOU Have the Power to Fix It! !!!!!!The Author and Publisher have provided this eBook to you for your personal use only. You may not make this eBook publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this eBook you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the author at mailcall@attiglawfirm.com !

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Copyright © 2013-2014 All Rights Reserved !First Edition, 2013 !

Photograph of Chris Attig is courtesy of the Attig Law Firm, who holds the copyright on that photograph. !!

ISBN-13: 978-0-9916594-2-5 (ebook) !www.AttigLawFirm.com !twitter.com/Vetlaw_US !facebook.com/vetlawUS ! !!!!

!!Chris Attig www.attiglawfirm.com !!Licensed in Maryland and Texas !Accredited by VA (September 2008) !Admitted to Practice, Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims !Admitted to Practice, Federal Circuit Court of Appeals !!My first job after school was military

service.   I reached the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army (Field Artillery) on Active Duty from 1993-1997, and served in the Reserves from 1997-2004.   I graduated Airborne School, attended Ranger school, and prior to leaving active duty, was invited to attend Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). !I received my law degree from South Texas College of Law in 2003. I am licensed to practice law in Texas and Maryland, but The Attig Law Firm handles cases at VA Regional Offices all around the US, before the BVA, and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. !My Vision is to Change the Way Veterans Experience the VA Claims Process. bMy Firm will do that by providing More Information, and More Power, in More Ways, to More Veterans. !You can read my full bio on my website. I speak around the country on Veteran’s topics every year.

Introduction Information is Power. !REASON 1: THERE IS TOO MUCH PAPER IN YOUR CLAIMS FILE. !REASON 2: THERE IS TOO MUCH WRITING IN YOUR CLAIMS FILE. !REASON 3: YOUR ARGUMENTS FOCUS ON WRONG ELEMENTS. !REASON 4: YOU WASTE ENERGY ARGUING WITH THE VA !REASON 5: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR VA RECORDS. !Conclusion. !

!Introduction: INFORMATION IS POWER. !!

Introduction - Information is Power !I’ve been where you are. !I’ve battled the VA in my own claim. I’ve been frustrated by their obtuse rules and regulations, annoyed by their excessive delays and baffled by the things they’ve written in their decisions. I learned something along the way. !I learned that Information is Power. !Every year, thousands of Veterans come to the Attig Law Firm looking for help battling the VA. !Every year, I request and study hundreds of VA Claims Files (C-Files). (Learn how to request your C-File in this eBook). A pattern frequently emerges in the C-Files of the Veterans whose claims are being denied and delayed. !Many pro-se Veterans have used the information I am about to share with you to improve their VA claim. !In many cases, they have gotten faster and more satisfying results from the VA by using their new power. !If you want to improve your VA claim, then this guide is for you. !Let me take a moment and tell you who this guide is not for. !If you want or expect legal advice, this is not the place for you. !I am going to talk to you about the quality of your case file; I am not going to talk to you about the quality of your claim. In fact, I don’t have a clue what your claim is about, so there is no way I can give you advice. !If you need specific guidance on the unique facts and law of your claim, STOP reading here and contact an accredited attorney. There are good ones out there. Get my eBOOK and learn the “8 Things you Need to Know When Choosing a Lawyer for your VA Disability Benefits Claim.” !

Recently, I met with an OIF Combat Veteran who served as a Company Commander in the 101st Airborne. He has built 2 successful businesses in the US, and a non-profit that operates in Afghanistan. What he said about Vets and the VA made an impression. !“Chris,” he said, “far too many Veterans drank the Kool Aid. They believe they are victims of the VA.” !What does it mean to be a victim of the VA? !A victim of the VA expects Congress to change the VA, and spends his or her time complaining to the VA. !A victim of the VA complains that the VA needs to change their culture. !A victim of the VA complains about mistakes and delays to anyone who will listen. !Nothing wrong with complaining about the VA. Heck, I have made my share of snarky comments - in private and on my blog - about the Hamster Wheel that is the VA Claims Process. !But complaining does not improve your claim, and it will not change the outcome of your claim. !When I was a fresh “Butter-Bar”1 in the Army, my Fire Support Team became trapped on the top of a mountain about 10 clicks from the DMZ. We were training on calling in airstrikes in support of Tank Platoon in the valley below when a blizzard hit out of nowhere. !Instantly, we were buried under 2 - 4 feet of Korean snow and ice. !Humvees couldn’t reach us. !Tracked vehicles couldn’t reach us. !Because of the cold, Division Artillery refused us access to choppers to airlift out. !In the end, if we were going to get out of there, we had to hump it down the mountain on our own. We packed up our rucks, and humped our way out. !

Your VA claim is a lot like being on that mountain. You can call for support from the VA, from Congress, or from Veterans Service Organizations. But in the end, if you want to “get down that mountain and eat”, you need to pick up your ruck and hump it out. !Enough war stories. !Before I tell you the 5 Reasons the VA keeps screwing up your claim, I have one favor to ask: if you find something in this Book helpful, tell another Veteran how to get it. !Watch out for each other. !!!

REASON #1: THERE IS TOO MUCH PAPER IN YOUR CLAIM FILE. !

REASON #1: THERE IS TOO MUCH PAPER IN YOUR CLAIM FILE. !When I first arrived at Ft. Hood, Texas, as a 1st Lieutenant, I took over an MLRS platoon. If you don’t know what MLRS is, Google it. The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System was, and remains, the REAL King of Battle. !I sat down with each of the NCOs in the platoon, to get a feel for what this new team was like. One NCO talked - incessantly - about how the Platoon’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) needed rewriting. I told him to bring his thoughts to me and we’d build a new SOP. !The next day, he brought me the old SOP - and he was right. It was binders of paper loaded with overly verbose nonsense that had little to do with artillery tactics. !But this NCO made no effort to tell me what he wanted or needed in the new SOP. He just dumped it in my lap. !It took me a month to sift through all the paper he gave me and did my best to put together a new and streamlined SOP. !When I gave the new SOP to the NCO, he was annoyed. !“Sir” he said, “These aren’t what we want or need.” !I didn’t miss a beat in my response. !“Then next time, don’t dump binders of paper in my lap and leave it to me to figure it all out -- tell me what you want and need.” !Do you do that in your VA clam? !Do you throw volumes of paper at the VA? Stacks of medical records and military records for them to sort through? !Do you give them a haystack, and then yell and scream at them when they can’t find the needle? !When you don’t know what to send, do you send a duplicate copy of every page you sent the last time, thinking THIS time, the VA will read and understand. !

What do you think happens to that paper? !If you’re lucky, they lose it. Seriously. The last thing you want is a ticked off bureaucrat writing a formal Ratings Decision that will affect your fate for years - decades - to come. !You might get a better and more satisfying outcome - and possibly a faster one - by taking the time to see your case from the VA perspective. Then, send only what they need to decide your claim. !!!

REASON #2: THERE IS TOO MUCH WRITING IN YOUR CLAIMS FILE. !

REASON #2: THERE IS TOO MUCH WRITING IN YOUR CLAIMS FILE !I order dozens of C-Files every month from Regional Offices around the US. Within minutes, I can tell how bad a claim is going for the Veteran. !Its not due to some special legal insight. !I count all copies of handwritten Form 21-41382 in the C-file. !VA Form 21-4138s are like age-rings on a tree. The more there are, the longer and harder a Veteran has battled the VA. !But here’s the catch: More 4138s equals less success. !Many Veterans waste a lot of time, paper, and energy filling forms and letters with complaints about the VA’s horrible delays, its poor decisions, and the lack of any sense of duty to the Veteran. !The hardest part is that those Vets are right. The VAs delays are obscene. Ratings decisions are, more often than not, unconscionable. I often wonder myself whether the VA cares less about the Veteran or the taxpayer whose money they are wasting. !Where does complaining get us, though? !Even when we are right, does the VA move faster? No. Do they get us what we are entitled to? No. !When you have to send something to the VA, take your time. Don’t miss deadline, but don’t rush either. !Haste makes Waste. !Instead, submit a well written, concise, persuasive and well-documented Notice of Disagreement, along with the evidence to support it. !Have a friend that knows nothing about VA claims read it. !If your writing doesn’t make sense to him, it is not persuasive. If your friend’s eyes glaze over, you were not concise. If your friend struggles to “get it”, you were not persuasive. !

If you were a VA Rater, and had 1 hour to work, which would you read? !1) A 20 page manifesto in illegible handwriting ranting about all the VAs ills? !Or, !2) A 5 page, double spaced, outlined and tabbed argument, printed legibly or typed, on clean white paper that was easy on the eyes? !If you want a better result from the VA, you have to put a better product in front of them. Submit the right papers, not more papers. !!

REASON #3: YOUR ARGUMENTS FOCUS ON THE WRONG ELEMENTS. !

REASON #3: YOUR ARGUMENTS FOCUS ON THE WRONG ELEMENTS. !The VA can, generally speaking, only deny an original claim for the lack of 1 or more of what we call, on the Veterans Law Blog, the “4 Pillars”. !Pillar 1: The nature of your service and your eligibility. !Pillar 2: Is your injury service connected. !Pillar 3: What is the proper Impairment Rating. !Pillar 4: Getting the correct Effective Date. !I recently studied a Vietnam Veteran’s Claims File. !He claimed his diabetes resulted from exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. He showed the VA all the problems his diabetes caused. He wrote about deteriorated vision, debilitating pain in his fingers and toes. He talked of multiple hospitalizations over the last year. It was clear he could no longer control his diabetes with medication or exercise. !Sounds like a clean cut case, right? The VA even conceded Agent Orange exposure in its decision. !But still, the VA denied his claim. !“Why” the Veteran asked, “is the VA screwing with me?” !The answer was simple. His file lacked any medical proof he had a current diagnosis of Diabetes. !He was so upset the VA denied his claim that he didn’t read the decision carefully. He didn’t know that all he had to do was walk down to the VA Medical Center, request one medical record showing he was diagnosed with diabetes, and submit it to the VA. !Yes, the VA had a Duty to Assist3 and screwed up by not getting this record for him. But what is the smarter course of action? !Spend 18 months berating the VA for failing to get a medical records or take 18 minutes and get it yourself? !

Read carefully what the VA sends you. !The key to understanding the denial of your VA claim might very well be stated in the last document the VA sent to you. (Albeit, buried deep in a 14 page Ratings Decision written in a size 10 font). !You just have to take your time and wade through the “B.S.” to see it. !!!

REASON #4: YOU WASTE ENERGY ARGUING WITH THE VA. !

REASON #4: YOU WASTE ENERGY ARGUING WITH THE VA. !It’s a damn shame that the VA doesn’t take better care of Veterans. But it’s also a fact of life. !You can fight it, or you can try to find another way to “skin the cat”. !You can argue WITH the VA, or you can argue TO the VA. !The C-File of one Cold War era Veteran included a decision granting service connection for a knee replacement. Still, the Veteran appealed. He believed (correctly) that he was entitled to an Earlier Effective Date. !The C-file was over 1,000 pages long. Over 100 pages - 10% of his CFile - were letters to anyone and everyone at the VA, asking, demanding, and begging for a conversation so he could explain his position. !Unsurprisingly, the VA didn’t call or communicate with him. They simply denied his appeal and sent a Statement of the Case. !Were they being jerks? !Maybe. !In this case, though, there was a very real reason the VA denied his appeal. !The Veteran needed only to make a straightforward argument showing why he was entitled to the Earlier Effective Date. He was an intelligent man; I have no doubt he could have made the argument. !Why did he waste so much time and energy trying to force a conversation to explain his position? !Why do any of us waste our time calling the VA to ask for a status? We know what the answer will be. !Wouldn’t it be easier to spend our time and energy building a concise, persuasive, and well documented argument in support of our position? !

If the VA is only going to talk to you one time every 2 years, make that 1 conversation count. !Spend your time preparing a more persuasive and effective argument so that when you finally get the meeting with the VA DRO, you can persuade him or her with as few words and evidence as practicable. !!!

REASON #5: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR VA RECORDS. !

REASON #5: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR VA RECORDS. !Get your records. I can’t say it any more clearly than that. Most Veterans don’t have any idea what is - and what is not - in their CFile. !Want me to teach you how to get your C-File? If you follow the steps in the book at that link, the VA must respond to your request for a copy. !We trust the VA puts everything in the C-file. We trust all VA employees are diligent and conscientious workers. !But we know this isn’t true. !Remember shred-gate at the Detroit VA Regional Office? !How about the Winston-Salem VA Regional Office that is collapsing under the weight of all the paper. !Surely you’ve read about the VA’s “Paperwork Amnesty Programs” trading “amnesty” from discipline in exchange for hidden claims paperwork? !Remember what one of our Presidents said? !“Trust, but Verify”. !In my Email series “Call for Fire”, which you can receive by clicking here, the first thing I teach is how to get a copy of your Claims File, so you know exactly what the VA is keeping on you. But don’t stop there: !Get your C-File. !Get your medical records. !Get your military service records. !Don’t wait for the VA to do it. Do it yourself. !Don’t confuse the Duty to Assist with Actual Assistance. !Dig through your records with a fine-tooth comb. Study them.

!Know exactly what the documents say and how to put your hands on them quickly. (This need only be as simple as buying $10 in office supplies: a 3-ring binder, divider tabs, and post it notes). !You can also read my post on the Veterans Law Blog that teaches you how to store your file digitally, using a free computer application called “Evernote”. Evernote gave me the ability to stop carrying around 15 pounds of paper every time I went to the VA - now I can just carry any smartphone, tablet or laptop. !Figure out what the VA needs to resolve your case, and go find that information.

CONCLUSION. !

CONCLUSION. !I have given these same pointers to hundreds of Veterans in some form or fashion over the years. !Open your eyes to the possibility that you have more Power with the VA than you think. !Use your Power. !But don’t go so far you become proud, or blinded by the new power you have found. If you get in over your head, or just believe that it’s time for a professional to take over, reach out to attorneys that are accredited by the VA and that have the experience and the “know-how” to offer you sound legal advice and/or assistance. !There’s a saying in the legal profession: !“The lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client.” !Lawyers know that no matter how much of an expert any one of us is, we are often our own worst advocate. !I handled my own VA claim, in part because I wanted to experience the VA from the Veteran’s perspective - not just the attorney’s perspective. !The most valuable thing that I learned? Knowing when I needed more information, or when I was in over my head. !Through my website, I offer a LOT of assistance to Veterans: !* The Veterans Law Blog is the longest running blog on Veterans Law published by an

attorney. It has over 425 posts (as of March 2014) and has been running since 2007. !* Veterans VA Claims University hosts several eBooks - just like this one - designed to

walk you through what I believe are the 8 Steps to Improving Your VA Claim. !* I have multiple email lists that send information about improving your VA claim to

your email inbox at a pace which you choose - every day, once a day, once a week, or once a month. !

* If they so desire, Veterans can request a consultation from my Firm. Not only do we educate and teach Veterans about VA claims, but we also represent them before VA Regional Offices around the country, the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). !

If you liked what you read in this eBook, send another Veteran to my website and get his or her copy. !Tell them about the Veterans Law Blog. !Tell them about the Veterans VA Claims University. !Watch out for each other. !!!

FOOTNOTES !

FOOTNOTES !1: “Butter Bar” is a nickname NCOs have for a 2nd Lieutenant. The rank insignia for a 2nd Lieutenant - a fresh and newly commissioned officer - is a single gold bar. Like a stick of butter, the 2nd Lieutenant is soft, and has been known to melt under heat and pressure. !2: VA Form 21-4138 is the standard blank form on which Veteran’s are supposed to write their correspondence to the VA. If you learn one thing from this e-Book, never use that Form again. Type what you have to say on clean white paper. VA employees see so many 21-4318s, they become subconsciously blind to what they say. !3: 38 USC 5107 outlines Congress’ directive to the VA to assist Veterans in getting the evidence needed to prove their claim. I tell my clients and colleagues: “Don’t confuse the Duty to Assist with actual assistance.” !!!

The Legalese: Disclaimers and Fine Print. !

The Legalese: Disclaimers and Fine Print. !Neither this eBook - nor any blog post or email - is meant to be legal advice and does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. !Information is power, and I am providing this information to give you, the Veteran, more power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Veterans. !The information presented in this eBook is a general description of VA Claims processes; every Veteran’s case is different. There may be approaches listed here that are not accurate or applicable to your case. !Likewise, there may be information that is applicable to your case that is not provided in this eBook. Downloading and reading this eBook does not make you a client of the Attig Law Firm (or any of our attorneys) and it does not make any of us your attorney. If there is an attorney-client relationship, we will have a written and signed document explaining that relationship. !If you do not have a written attorney client agreement signed by an attorney at the Attig Law Firm and you, the Veteran, it is unreasonable to think that I or any attorney at the Attig Law Firm is your attorney. !It is very important to note that each and every Veteran’s claim is different. Just because the Attig Law Firm was able to secure substantial past-due benefits for one Veteran or Veteran’s spouse does not mean or imply that we will be able to do so for you. !In some cases, the Attig Law Firm may not be able to secure any financial compensation or past due benefits due to the facts or law of your particular case. !It is best to consult with a lawyer familiar with and accredited to handle VA Disability claims and benefits or if you have specific questions about the facts and law of your particular case. !If you would like to discuss your VA claim with a lawyer who handles VA Benefits and Disability Appeals, contact the Attig Law Firm, PLLC, for a free consultation with an accredited VA attorney.