A denial letter is not a verdict on whether you were hurt serving. It is usually a verdict on whether your file contained one particular document. Jose Robles Jr served nearly 15 years in the Air Force with four combat tours, and now helps veterans across Richardson and Dallas County challenge VA decisions.
A Richardson VA disability lawyer helps veterans challenge a denied claim or a rating that is too low, through one of three review routes. Federal rules bar any fee before the VA's first decision, and after that a fee of up to 20 percent of back pay is treated as reasonable. Only representatives accredited by the VA may charge at all.
Three, and choosing the wrong one costs months. Each has a one year window from the date of the decision.
The choice is not about which sounds strongest. It is about what is actually missing from your file.
Send new evidence
For when you have something the VA has not seen: a doctor's opinion connecting your condition to your service, a private examination, or service records you have only just tracked down. The VA has to help you develop the claim on this route.
Ask a senior reviewer to look again
For when the evidence was already good enough and the decision was simply wrong. A more experienced reviewer looks at exactly the same file. You cannot add anything new, which makes this the wrong choice when your file is thin.
Appeal to the board
Three versions of this: a review of the existing record, a review with new evidence added, or a hearing before a judge. How long each takes differs a great deal, so the choice is partly about how quickly you need a decision.
The most common avoidable mistake is asking a senior reviewer to look again when the real problem is a missing medical opinion. That route forbids new evidence, so a veteran whose file lacked the one document it needed waits months for somebody more experienced to read the same insufficient file and reach the same conclusion.
Usually not because the VA doubts you served or doubts you are ill. It is the link: the medical connection between a current diagnosis and something that happened during your service.
A veterans disability claim generally needs three things. A current diagnosis. An event, injury or illness during service. And a medical opinion tying one to the other. Veterans routinely have the first two documented in detail and lose on the third.
The second recurring problem is the evaluation itself. An examination that was rushed, carried out by somebody unfamiliar with the condition, or that never addressed the specific criteria for rating it can produce a decision that is wrong on the medicine rather than on the law. An inadequate evaluation is something you can challenge, not something you simply have to live with.
Your disability rating is the third area, and the most commonly left alone. A claim can be granted and still be wrong if the percentage does not match the criteria, or if the date it takes effect from is later than the evidence supports. Both are appealable. Both are frequently left uncontested because the letter read like good news.
The percentage is not a formality. It sets your monthly compensation for as long as it stands, so a rating that is too low quietly costs you money every month nobody challenges it.
Far less freedom than in an ordinary case, because federal rules control it. No fee at all is allowed before the VA issues its first decision.
Before the first decision
A representative cannot charge you a fee for work done before the VA issues its first decision on the claim. Initial claims are normally filed with free help from an accredited veterans service organisation.
After the first decision
Once that decision arrives, an accredited lawyer may charge for helping you challenge it.
How much
Fees have to be reasonable. An agreement of up to 20 percent of the back pay awarded is treated as reasonable, and it is normally contingent on winning.
Who is allowed to charge
Only representatives accredited by the VA may charge a fee at all. Ask directly, and check it yourself before signing anything.
Two practical consequences follow. If you have not filed a first claim yet, the right move is usually an accredited veterans service organisation, who help at no cost. And anybody asking for money to help with a first claim, or who is not accredited by the VA, is a reason to stop and check before signing.
Ask any representative directly whether they are accredited by the VA, and confirm it yourself before signing a fee agreement.
Because North Texas has one of the largest veteran populations in the country, and the local VA network shapes how claims here get examined and treated.
Dallas County alone is home to tens of thousands of veterans, and the VA North Texas Health Care System is one of the busiest in the national network. Richardson sits inside that catchment, close enough that most of the medical evidence in a local claim comes from the same handful of facilities.
That has a practical effect. How quickly an examination can be scheduled, which facility holds your records, and how long it takes to get them released all influence the pace of a claim. It also means a great many people in this area are living with a denial they were told was final and never was.
If you need assistance understanding what your disability benefits should be, the process for challenging a decision is worth walking through with an advocate before any deadline runs out.
One benefit worth asking about is the additional one veterans most often miss: where service-connected conditions stop you holding down substantially gainful work, you may be eligible to be paid at the full rate even when your combined rating is lower. Veterans who have stopped working, or who are only marginally employed, frequently never raise it because nobody told them the percentage was not the whole picture. Having previous employment records to hand is usually what carries it.
Because he sat on the other side of the uniform for nearly 15 years and does not need the service record explained to him.
Jose Robles Jr is a decorated Air Force combat veteran with a 95% success rate, $5M+ recovered, 1,000+ cases handled, and a 4.9 star Google rating.
Jose "Joe" Robles Jr served nearly 15 years as an Air Force Military Police officer, including four combat tours in the Middle East, before earning his law degree from Texas A&M University School of Law. He spent four years at Bailey & Galyen, rising to Managing Attorney of the Pre-Litigation Personal Injury Department, before founding this firm.
Veterans describing exposures, deployments, or the reasons an incident never made it into a medical record are talking to somebody who was there for that world rather than reading about it. The firm also works in Spanish, and the team handles these services alongside injury claims rather than as a sideline.
If you were hurt in an accident as well, we handle Richardson car accident claims and motorcycle claims, which are separate from VA compensation and can run alongside it. For everything the firm does here, see our Richardson personal injury page.
Fees here are limited by federal rules rather than set freely. A representative cannot charge you anything for work done before the VA issues its first decision on your claim. After that point, a fee agreement of up to 20 percent of any back pay awarded is treated as reasonable, and it is normally contingent on winning, with the VA able to pay the representative directly out of the back pay. Only representatives accredited by the VA may charge a fee at all.
For a first claim, usually not. Accredited veterans service organisations help file those at no cost, and a lawyer cannot charge for that work anyway. After a denial or a rating that is too low, it is worth considering, because the problem is almost never a missing form. It is usually a missing medical opinion connecting the condition to your service, or an evaluation that was inadequate. What changes the outcome is evidence and choosing the right route, not simply trying again.
Conditions with no scan or blood test to point at. In practice that means mental health claims such as PTSD, along with chronic pain conditions, fibromyalgia, migraines, and illnesses connected to environmental exposures. The obstacle is nearly always the link: connecting a current diagnosis to something that happened during service. Statements from people you served with, unit records and a well-supported private medical opinion usually achieve more than another round of argument with the decision itself.
Three, and each has a one year window from the decision. You can submit new and relevant evidence, ask a more senior reviewer to look at the same file again, or appeal to the board. Picking the wrong one wastes months. The most common avoidable mistake is asking for a senior review when the real problem is a missing medical opinion, because that route does not allow you to add anything new.
Rarely because the VA doubts you served or doubts you are unwell. It is usually the link between the two. A service connection claim generally needs three things: a current diagnosis, something that happened during service, and a medical opinion tying them together. Veterans routinely have the first two documented thoroughly and lose on the third. The second common problem is an evaluation that was rushed or did not address the right criteria, which is a challengeable defect rather than something you have to accept.
Yes, and it is one of the most commonly left uncontested decisions there is, because the letter reads like a win. A claim can be granted and still be wrong if the percentage does not match the criteria, or if the effective date is later than the evidence supports. The percentage is not a formality: it sets your monthly compensation for as long as it stands, so an underrated decision quietly costs money every month it goes unchallenged.
Often yes, because they are separate systems. VA disability compensation is a federal benefit based on your service. An injury claim seeks damages from whoever caused a specific accident. A veteran hurt in a Richardson car crash can pursue that claim while receiving VA compensation. Where the VA paid for treatment, it may want reimbursing out of any recovery, so that needs identifying early rather than discovering at settlement.
No fee unless we win. Call us now or schedule your free consultation online.