Tick Tock Goes The Fee Clock

An interesting facet of the VA disability claim process is that most individuals are represented either by a power of attorney or they choose to take on the task of going at the VA themselves. It is not usually until the appeals process when people look for licensed attorneys or accredited agents. People tend to shy away from the lawyers because they get paid; the standard “power of attorney” does not receive such compensation.

Attorneys don’t just get paid for doing nothing. They only get paid when they win! Once a claim is granted, the compensation that they receive is (normally) paid to them by the VA. That is, however, dependent on the proper paperwork being filed when it is required. Failure to follow those rules creates problems. This is exactly the situation that veteran disability attorney Sean Ravin found himself in here in Ravin v. Wilkie, 2018 U.S. App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 1468.

Ravin signed onto a Veteran’s claim in the early part of December 2009. Come early spring, Ravin finally got to mailing his fee agreement to the VA regional office. The problem: it was a few months late. The Regional office told him so, but Ravin took this all the way to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

In ruling against Ravin, the Court laid out that regulations and their meaning were “plain as day.” File your paperwork on time–the VA will directly pay you when you win. If you do not file your paperwork on time, then you will be the one responsible for collecting any monies owed.

Although his client won, Ravin seemingly misunderstood that he could not get paid for his work. To me, it appears that Ravin believed that the direct pay agreement was the only method in which he could receive monetary compensation for his well-earned victory. It wasn’t that Ravin could not get paid, but rather it was just that the VA would not be one the writing the check. If Ravin wanted to get paid, he would need to go and ask for payment directly from the Veteran.

Getting your paperwork and agreements filed should be fairly straightforward and a standard process. This was just kind of an oops and probably a small oversight. There is always a lot of stuff going on in these claims, so it’s no surprise there was a tiny mistake.

Some individuals may assume that they might get to keep an extra 20% (the standard fee) since the paperwork was not filed. Such an assumption would be unwise. When services are rendered and you benefit from them, you are very, very likely to be required to pay for the benefit you received. After all, it was a contract and you won. Everyone should be happy anyways.

So, ultimately, what was the lesson learned from this case? File timely.