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Why do I need a Veterans Disability Lawyer?

Veterans served our country in ways that many civilians can never understand or truly appreciate.  While in the service of our country, many veterans suffer unimaginable trauma, both physical and mental. Our country has always tried to support our veterans as they return from overseas and try to assimilate back into civilian life, but for many, that transition is hard and often fraught with mental and physical health challenges.

Veteran’s Disability Law is an extremely complex area of law. Prior to 2006, veterans were not allowed to hire VA disability lawyers to represent them in the Regional Office and the BVA. This law was changed in 2006 when Congress finally recognized that veterans should have the right to hire VA claim lawyers in this very important area of law. In veteran’s disability claims, a VA disability lawyer can help clarify the issues and ensure that the claim is properly supported by evidence so that the claim can be appealed, if necessary.

Because of the complex nature of the law and the VA’s propensity to deny claims to deserving veterans and their dependents, it’s necessary to have people on your side, focused solely on your case and what you need in order to be made as whole as possible.

That’s where we step in.  We strive to make sure that our veterans get the care they need and deserve.  We love veterans and we our proud of the veterans in our own families who have served in every major war the United States has fought in the last 100 years. We decided to pursue VA Disability law because we saw the struggles many of our family members and friends faced as they returned home from the service. While many of them never received the care they needed, we don’t want you to suffer the same fate.

Call the attorneys at Harmon and Gorove today to learn how we can help you get the help you deserve.

What is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange was used widely in the Vietnam War to help eliminate vegetation and make it easier to find and track the enemy.  The technical definition of Agent Orange according to the VA is as follows:

“Agent Orange was a tactical herbicide used by the U.S. military for control of vegetation. It was named for the orange band around the storage barrel. The military sprayed Agent Orange and other tactical herbicides during the Vietnam War.”

Approximately three million soldiers from the United States served in the Vietnam War and faced Agent Orange exposure between 1962 and 1971. The Department of Defense had Agent Orange and similar herbicides created for explicitly for combat operations. Millions of square miles were affected by heavy spraying of the defoliant include forests near the borders of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Forests located near demarcation zones, shipping channels located in the southeast region of Saigon, and mangroves located along the far southern peninsula of South Vietnam.

How American soldiers were exposed varied.  Some ingested it through food an drink, others breathed it in as it was aerosolized and sprayed.  Yet more absorbed it through the skin.  There’s a reason why so many people have had so many different reactions to Agent Orange exposure.

Agent Orange was highly carcinogenic and has been linked to numerous cancers and other ailments including, but not limited to the following:

  • Birth defects in future children
  • Chloracne
  • Chronic b-cell leukemia
  • Heart disease
  • Hodgkin’s disease
  • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
  • Prostate cancer
  • Respiratory cancers
  • Soft tissue sarcoma
  • AL amyloidosis
  • Spina bifida in future children
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Myeloma

Because of the massive levels of exposure to Agent Orange, in 1991, Congress with the backing of World War II Veteran and President George H.W. Bush, passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The act provides benefits to veterans who suffer from exposure to Agent Orange. Because of the incredible amounts of the product used, the legislation assumes that any American soldier who served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, were exposed to carcinogens in Agent Orange that could chronic health problems.

Under the legislation, anyone who served in the Vietnam war or who was stationed near the Korean DMZ, is presumed to have Agent Orange exposure. Despite that, you must meet one of the following criteria before you can file a claim with the VA. These include:

  • You had definitive Agent Orange exposure while in the military.
  • You served in the Korean DMZ at any point between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971.
  • You served in Vietnam at any point between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975. Under the Blue Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, this can also include service on a vessel docked or parked on inland waterways or operating a vessel less than 12 nautical miles from water demarcation lines located in Vietnam or Cambodia.
  • You faced Agent Orange exposure on a Thailand military base between February 28, 1961, and May 7, 1975.
  • You faced Agent Orange exposure while working with herbicide tests or near an outdoor storage facility in Vietnam.
  • You were present near airplanes containing Agent Orange residue or faced residue exposure while working on an airline crew with c-123 planes that the U.S. military flew after the completion of the Vietnam War.

If you meet these criteria but you have had your claim denied by the VA, call us today to get the ball rolling on an appeal.  Every day you wait could be the difference in hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of VA Disability Benefits.

 

Return on Investment

A return on investment of more than 2,000% in just 5 months?

Don’t worry, I’m not a used car salesman and I’m definitely not the Wolf of Lewis Street. We’re attorneys and what I’m telling you is absolutely true.

See, I calculated the average cost of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, let’s say its $1,600. I then took the average amount of debt that we get rid of, which is right around $50,000. Then I looked at the average amount of time it takes for a Chapter 7 to run from start to finish. When I ran the numbers, I got a return on investment of 2,600%. That’s a number Elon Musk and Bill Gates would jump all over. In fact, outside of buying a winning lotto ticket, there’s no faster way to legally get that kind of return on investment anywhere.

SHORT-TERM BENEFITS OF CHAPTER 7

The biggest benefit of bankruptcy is that you just stop paying any bill that you wish to discharge. No more payments to CREDIT CARD CORP or RIPOFF MED SERVICE. Garnishments? Gone. None. Zero.

Think about how much better your monthly budget would be if you could wipe out hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of payments.

The day you file bankruptcy, the automatic stay goes into effect. That stops all collections against you dead in their tracks, even lawsuits that have already been filed.

This means that unless it’s an auto loan (and you want to keep the car) or a house payment (and you want to keep the house) you don’t have to make another payment.

LONG-TERM BENEFITS OF CHAPTER 7

A Chapter 7 means that within 4-6 months, all unsecured debt will be gone. This will immediately increase your credit score. Don’t believe me, ask the CFPB.

Car loans, mortgage loans and home equity loans are secured by the property, and if you want to keep them, you’ll have to keep making payments.

If you don’t want to keep them, you typically get somewhere between 3-6 months in that property before the bank repossesses it. You get to keep it that long without making a payment. That’s a good deal.

When you look at the total picture, the benefits of filing a Chapter 7 are difficult to put in to words.

The return on investment you get through bankruptcy is one of the best ways you can spend your hard earned money. With a very small investment and the stroke of a judge’s pen, you can find yourself $40,000-$100,000 better off. That friends, is easy money.

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