This is my view.
On the one hand, the earlier you start, the more you are likely to influence the evidence that goes forward to the IPEB and perhaps get a good result early on and making the formal hearing unnecessary.
I don't view the IPEB as something that people would ideally use as an event to "see what happens." It can be a tool for getting a feel for how the PEB will view the issues in a case, but to me it makes sense to get an outcome you want at the IPEB. I think it is best to try to win as early as possible. To do so, you need to work on making the best MEB possible go forward.
Now, from a consumer of legal services point of view, this is a hard question. If you retain an attorney early and get a good result at the IPEB, you may wonder if the attorney's assistance helped or if it was worth the fee. I think that in many cases you cannot know. And, in fact, the MEB and the IPEB may have reached a similar result without the attorney's assistance. But, the other side of the coin is that until you have reached a bad result without an attorney, you don't know that you need one. It is a bit of a Catch-22.
A few other thoughts. There are generally issues of fact and issues of law. That is, the PEB will need to consider "what happened here" (fact) and "what does this mean when you apply the law" (law). The MEB is generally where the PEB looks for the evidence (facts). So, having a strong MEB is very helpful to a good early outcome. However, if the facts are not in dispute, but the law is, very often the Formal PEB is where the attorney has the first good opportunity to fully explain the law. Why does this matter? Well, if the facts in the case are clear and well documented in the medical records and are not open to interpretation, then in these cases, it may make sense to wait for the results of the IPEB.
To summarize, I think it is best to start as early as possible once you have decided you will retain civilian counsel. From my point of view, it is easier to prepare a successful case the earlier you start. However, if the issues are legal in nature, it may not matter much if you wait until before the FPEB to retain counsel.
