In this video host, attorney Ben Glass, interviews attorney Francis Jackson of the law firm of Jackson & MacNichol with the question: If this is a federal regulation, why would a veteran need an attorney to help them through the process?
There are really two major problems: one is that this is a very slow process and it is also very complicated — there are multiple levels, there is an initial claim, there is now a provision for the decision review officer level above that, and then there is the benefits approval board in Washington, DC and finally the court system. We do most of this by mail and by phone because most of this is paper submissions to the VA. But in terms of live hearings, we go to wherever the veteran is. I have flown from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon to do cases. We simply go wherever the hearing is going to be.