Category: Legal Update

The PACT Act has been signed into law and individuals (including veterans or anyone else who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 for at least 30 days) can now bring lawsuits against the United States government for harm caused by exposure to toxic drinking water. Who Can Bring a Camp Lejeune Lawsuit […]

Congress this week passed the PACT Act, which might be the most significant piece of VA benefits legislation in years. In short, the PACT Act makes it so that the VA presumes certain cancers and respiratory conditions are considered automatically related to service for Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans. The PACT Act also expands the […]

Whether you’re retiring, filing a claim for VA benefits, or requesting a discharge upgrade, you will want a copy of your military medical and personnel records. Download and Print the SF-180 Form In order to request a copy of your military records, you need to complete a SF-180 form and mail it to the appropriate […]

In my opinion, a VA representative’s job is two-fold. First, help the veteran win their appeal for disability compensation benefits by obtaining the evidence needed to win the claim and putting forth persuasive legal arguments. Almost as equally important is to review a veteran’s entire VA claims file to determine if any additional past-due benefits […]

On the 10th anniversary of the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, VA announced that LGBTQ+ service members who received an other than honorable discharge would now be eligible for VA benefits such as vocational rehabilitation, home loan guaranty, compensation & pension, health care, homeless program, and/or burial benefits. Veterans Discharged for Sexual Orientation, […]

Military Sexual Trauma (military sexual trauma) is psychological trauma, which results from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment and which occurs while a veteran is serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training. It happens more often than many people know – […]

Earlier this month, attorneys working with the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic filed a class action law suit in federal court alleging that the Navy illegally denies requests for discharge upgrades made by veterans with PTSD and other mental health conditions.   The lead plaintiff is a Marine veteran of the 2003 invasion […]

New DoD Guidance for Discharge Upgrades Involving Mental Health As I have noted before, service-connected mental health conditions frequently lead to veterans receiving other-than-honorable discharges. In turn, other-than-honorable discharges often prevent veterans from receiving much needed VA benefits and health care. In response to this problem, the Department of Defense (DoD) has issued new New […]

Big changes are coming to the VA appeals process as a result of a new law, the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017, which became law on August 23, 2017. The new law restructures the current appeals process to address the massive backlog of veterans presently waiting for decisions on their appeals.

Last month U.S. legislators introduced H.R. 1954 – the Servicemembers and Veterans Empowerment and Support Act of 2017. In large part, legislators drafted H.R. 1954 in response to reports of nude photos of female service members being posted online. The bill is aimed at ensuring that these veterans have sufficient access to counseling and benefits. […]