Disabled veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq who have been denied benefits will be getting free legal help from members of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.
The lawyers are offering free legal services to veterans who are challenging the Veterans Affairs Department’s denial of their benefits claims.
Those who get rulings about their claims sometimes find the decisions confusing and many veterans are unable to understand how the evaluation board calculated the monthly benefits they receive from the VA, according to experts.
The process can become even more overwhelming when a veteran’s claim is denied. This forces a disabled veteran to either give up the claim or file an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
“The process is not always a friendly one,” Neil H. Ferstand, executive director of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, said.
Ferstand said that the government keeps a close eye on overstated claims and fraud by malingerers.
“I think they go slow because they want to be sure of what they’re doing,” Ferstand said.
The lawyers who have volunteered to help veterans disabled in Iraq and Afghanistan say the appeals process can be frustrating, requiring a veteran to read and understand a 45-page publication on how to file an appeal.
They say veterans also are sometimes reluctant to get the help of a physician who is needed to properly document the service-related injury.
