I represent military veterans and their families in Department of Veterans Affairs benefit claims and appeals. Specifically, I practice before the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims arguing procedural errors by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). I am a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and I help veterans because I once was a young Marine trying to navigate the complex VA system for benefits and felt completely helpless. I understand how daunting the process of obtaining benefits can be and that in order to avoid useless delays, it helps to have a trained professional advocate on your behalf. At this time, due to new VA regulations, I am only accepting new clients who have received a VA rating decision within the last 12-month period or have been denied benefits by a Board of Veterans Appeals decision within the last 60-days. Veteran benefits are a unique area of law with special protections. Congress has now allowed attorneys to represent veterans, but has limited how attorneys can receive payment for their work. According to contingency payment agreements, attorneys can charge a percentage (20 percent is standard) fee to be paid from retroactive benefits awarded in the case of a favorable grant of benefits. Therefore, in most cases attorneys are not able to recoup a fee for their work if the veteran is already receiving veteran benefits at the 100 percent payment rate. For this reason, veterans who have TDIU or 100 percent for service-connection are advised to contact a veterans service office (VSO), such as VVA, VFW, American Legion, DAV, etc.. Additionally, veteran benefits are for military veterans with a general or an honorable discharge. If you have an other than honorable, you will need to discuss a discharge upgrade which is governed by a different set of guidelines not contained within the Veterans Administration. Similarly, if you are still on active duty, you are not yet a veteran, but will become one the day after separation. If you seek assistance with the UCMJ, please contact a military law attorney who is accepted to practice before a UCMJ jurisdiction. If you have an open appeal from a recent VA rating decision or from a recent Board decision and would like information about possible representation, please do not hesitate to provide your contact information and I personally, will return your message.