Has the VA denied your disability or given you too low a rating? Unfortunately, the VA is overworked and sometimes makes mistakes when investigating applications for disability benefits or disability ratings. If your benefits have been denied, Moebes Law is here to assist you with the appeals process.
Atย Moebes Law, we have a unique understanding of challenges wounded veterans face. When not practicing law, Lieutenant Colonel Moebes serves as a Medical Service Corps officer with the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and has deployed three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom: twice to Balad Air Base, Iraq and once to Andrews AFB, Maryland. He has also facilitated the aeromedical evacuation of thousands of wounded warriors throughout his decorated military service.
Let us help reward your past service to our country by serving your legal needs now.
Call (678) 931-8177 to schedule your free consultation with a veterans disability attorney. We will work without end until you have the benefits promised to you. Whether you needย compensation for an injury on the job, or being eligible for benefits, we will fight for you.
An Interview with Michael Moebes:
Howย does the typical veteranโsย disabilityย case go?
Michael:ย A lot of timesย the clients willย beย receiving treatmentย at a VA hospitalย forย some kind of injury or illness that resultedย from theirย military service. Itโs possible theyโve beenย receiving treatmentย forย this illness for a while and didnโt even know that it was related to the military.ย They learn thatย they can get better sensibilityย benefits,ย meaning a monthly check related to theirย disability partial or full.
Most of the timeย this check isย a percentage,ย so itโs a partial,ย and theyโll file for it and then either theyโll get completely rejected because the VA will say thereโs no causal nexus,ย or they might get a percentage thatย the veteran thinksย is way lower than what they should actually get.
Withย theย ease of access to information on the internet,ย a lot of people can research what some of the appropriate rules and laws are in this arenaย in Atlantaย and do their initial filing. They mightย alsoย work with a veteranโs service organizationย to do the initial filing like a charitableย group that can help them.
But they can use a lawyer,ย and the lawyer can actually get paid to help them at theย appellate level, which is a result of getting back news you donโt like.ย At this level Iย workย at 120% contingency fee when I help them with appeal. Iย think itโs beneficial to use a lawyer over one of the veteranโs service organizations,ย or VSOโs,ย just because of our training and advocacy.
Evenย knowing a decent amount about the VA and what some of the rules are or not going to teach you what 3 intense years of law school and then several years of practice will teach you in terms of, like I said, theย art of advocacy andย presenting evidence in a manner thatโs persuasive. So, the next step is normally we file a notice of disagreement and then we get go in front of a decision review officerย at the local VA or DRO and we present our case or I guess itโs actually our appeal.
Next up, we present our appeal in front of the DRO and sort of explain to him or her why we disagree with the decision that the VAย rendered and they might send them for another medical examination or they might grant them part of their claim or all of it or whatever. And if we disagree with thatย we file to the Board of Veteranโs Appeals and thatโs normally, my practice is sort of limited to the decision review officer and then above that the Board of Veteranโs Appeals.
Iโve been in casesย at the level above that but if I need to I guess I could. But the Board of Veteranโs Appeals is actually military lawyersย who hear a case and theyโre out of Washington, D.C., but theyโll hear your case via video conference at your local VA. And so weโll go in Decatur at Clairmont Road and go do that as needed. Unfortunately, it takes a long time, months and months if not years.ย It takes a long time to go through,ย but eventually you hope that youโre able to get the VA to connect the dots and link up the problem or the sickness to the military service.
Then they canย give a good effective date which will make a big difference in the claim. Usually this meansย that the date that the disability sort of started or became effective because obviously if you go through the VA appellate process and you win andย they give you an effective date from only a little while ago,ย thatโs not really a lot of money. But, ifย youโve been fighting them for three years,ย or whatever the amount of time, and the effective date goes back much further to something likeDesertย Storm that can be a ton of money.
So, that matters, too, and the effective date can kind of vary by when symptoms manifest themselves and when incidents occurred and at so Iโve helped several Vietnam veterans because of Agent Orange issues. There are severalย ailments that theyโve already said you donโt even have to approve the causation as long as you prove you guys are big boots on the ground and somewhere in Vietnam where they had Agent Orange you can just link it up.
Iโve helped countless older vets who are still in need of my help, but Iโve also been fortunate enough to help out someย younger guys like me whoโveย been involved in the two gulf wars, and who are suffering fromย post-traumatic stress disorder and physical problems.
Cases that go through the appellate processย haveย elementsย thatย can be sort of automatically tied to specific deployments like all the Agent Orange problems to Vietnam. Thereโs also, of course, lobbying working to make some of the Gulf War syndrome problems tied to Desert Strom where itโs less of an onerous process to prove the case or the claim.
What are some of the disabilities veterans are seeing that they might not realizeย is related to their service?
Some cases of prostateย cancerย and Type II diabetes have been tied to Agent Orange exposure so if you can prove that you were there,ย that helps. A lot of people are getting sleep apnea and some are correlating this toย deployment,ย especially in combatย andย environment and the stressorsย as well.ย Thereย hasnโt been the direct causal linkย establishedย withย respiratory issuesย and them being a result from burn pits,ย but thereโs a bun pit registry and thatโs being lobbied for right now.
What should someone whoย thinksย their conditionsย might be tiedย to their serviceย do?
Michael:ย You always have to try and seek out help as soon as you can. A lawyer will be able to help you much faster than the VA probably will. Things tend to work more slowly at the VA,ย andย I donโt think they do a great job in that duty to assist. They are supposed to help you with that initial filing,ย andย if not,ย there are charitable organizations that helpย with that initial filing, too.
Thenย at the pointย whereย if theyโre denied,ย or theyโre given a really low percentage and they want to appeal it, my firm can help, because the process will always be easier with a lawyer.ย Itโs a matter ofย whether you canย go online andย findย resources andย forms that they can do for the initialย filing, which as lot of these can actually be found on my website.
We also have aย Facebook page whereย I try to update that almost daily with articles related to VA issues and medical problemsย and tying it to your VA claim and then some workerโs compensation articles as well. Thereโsย a lot more on the news about the VA stuff so I tend to update theย Facebook page a lot with information on those things.
Whatย would you tell them to look for if they did decide that they need help from an attorney?
Michael:ย Inย Atlantaย there areย only a handful of lawyers who do it and in other states they may have a little more if itโsย a state with a lot of vets like Florida but you know I think itโs good to look for someone with military experience. Itโs certainly not essential but I think it helps.
My military job is Medical Service Corp so I have a more intimate knowledge of medicalย issues in the military than probably most officers even if itโs a JAGย whoโsย more familiar with the legal aspect of military life specifically under the UCMJ, Uniform Code of Military Justice. In the VA theyโre not really worried about the UCMJ.
Theyโre worried about medical issues and because I worked in a hospital or medical environment during my deployments in Iraq I saw firsthand a lot of the problems that are still affecting people now and I worked directly with doctors and nurses and med techs and continues to do thatย and my military reserves role.
So I think thatโs beneficial and then someone whoโs a member of NOVA, theย National Organization of Veterans Advocates.ย I think is very helpfulย because it shows youโre willing to spend a lot of money and time each yearย in an organization that lobbies for veteranโsย causes and has continuing educationย seminars twice a year.ย I try to attend at least one of them every year to sort of sharpen us all and get better at representing veterans and networking with other lawyers from other states and seeing what theyโre doing well.
Something I did right off the bat was Iย joined NOVA and went to the accreditation process to becomeย allowed to practice before the Veteranโs Courts.ย Havingย some litigation experience is good even if itโs someone who is new to the VAย scene in Atlanta