Use assigned lawyer or pay for a civilian for FPEB Appeal?

[bragg2022]

Hello everyone, I received 20% for my DoD rating. They gave me 20% for my lower back issues which was my referring condition, I filed an appeal to get bi-lateral plantar fasciitis (20%), Anxiety (70%), and bi-lateral knee tendinitis (20%) added as DQ conditions. My appeal date is September 27th, 2023. However, after I filed the appeal I realized I may actually have a better case of getting my bi-lateral radiculopathy (sciatica) (20%, 10% each side) as a DQ condition since that is directly related to my lower back and all my treatment records show the low back + sciatica being treated concurrently. My records for sciatica are likely better than plantar fasciitis, anxiety, and tendinitis.

With this being said, what are my options to submit additional documents/records for this FPEB appeal? My IDES JAG lawyer has told me that I will be assigned counsel about 2 weeks before my appeal date. Should I wait for that or just go out and get a good civilian lawyer to help me with my appeal? Does anyone have insights into whether the assigned counsel is any good and if I'd have better luck with a lawyer I pay for? I'd really like to get bumped up to 30%+ as having tricare for life would be huge for my family of 4. Money is not an issue, I would pay 10-20k no issues if it meant I have a much better chance of getting bumped to 30%+. Any help or recommendations for lawyers is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Additional note: I did get 100% P&T, no combat code, so I will have Champ VA but I've heard tricare is better which is why I am trying to get bumped to 30%.

 

[Provis]

Hello everyone, I received 20% for my DoD rating. They gave me 20% for my lower back issues which was my referring condition, I filed an appeal to get bi-lateral plantar fasciitis (20%), Anxiety (70%), and bi-lateral knee tendinitis (20%) added as DQ conditions. My appeal date is September 27th, 2023. However, after I filed the appeal I realized I may actually have a better case of getting my bi-lateral radiculopathy (sciatica) (20%, 10% each side) as a DQ condition since that is directly related to my lower back and all my treatment records show the low back + sciatica being treated concurrently. My records for sciatica are likely better than plantar fasciitis, anxiety, and tendinitis.

With this being said, what are my options to submit additional documents/records for this FPEB appeal? My IDES JAG lawyer has told me that I will be assigned counsel about 2 weeks before my appeal date. Should I wait for that or just go out and get a good civilian lawyer to help me with my appeal? Does anyone have insights into whether the assigned counsel is any good and if I'd have better luck with a lawyer I pay for? I'd really like to get bumped up to 30%+ as having tricare for life would be huge for my family of 4. Money is not an issue, I would pay 10-20k no issues if it meant I have a much better chance of getting bumped to 30%+. Any help or recommendations for lawyers is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Additional note: I did get 100% P&T, no combat code, so I will have Champ VA but I've heard tricare is better which is why I am trying to get bumped to 30%.

A private dedicated attorney should always be better but they can only do so much when you hire one at the end to fix the outcome. It would have been much better to hire one at the start of the process because they can help you build a case for the outcome you want to see meaning at every step they are appealing and having you gather evidence in case a FPEB and or VARR is required.

 

[JoelPettit]

Hey bragg2022. I am a civilian IDES attorney who was previously an FPEB attorney for the Navy as a Federal employ. Before that, I was a Marine JAG IDES IPEB and FPEB attorney at Camp Lejeune. The honest answer to your question is a resounding yes. The more claims you wish to develop, the more time it will take to do so. Moreover, having had 6 to 8 formal hearings per week as a JAG and Fed employee, I'll tell you that two weeks flew by. That's just the nature of the staffing levels the military keeps for FPEB attorneys. Military attorneys and Fed civilian attorneys are definitely good, don't get me wrong. We worked long hours and learned everything we could because we loved our jobs and our clients. But the workload just didn't give bandwidth for the kind of advocacy we wanted to deliver. Paying for a private attorney leads to many advantages.