Filing for VA disability can be very difficult, especially if you do it alone. So, many Veterans turn to attorneys for help with their claims. But, how does an attorney
Kris Fluharty, Team Leader
help with a VA disability claim? Attorneys will, of course, represent you at a trial, help you with medical record requests, and more. However, one of the most important aspects of any VA disability case is your C-File Review. Our law firm recently created a department dedicated to Claims File Reviews to better serve our clients. Why is your Claims file so important, and why would a law firm invest so many resources into developing a special department just for the review of these files? Let’s discuss that today.
What is a C-File?
First, let’s talk about C-Files. Other than general medical evidence a claim file is probably the single most important aspect of any case. For the most part, a claim file is massive. Depending upon how long the Veteran served, the C-file can be anywhere from a couple hundred pages long to several inches thick. Your c-file is the physical record of your time in service. It includes your entrance exams, medical evaluations, administration records, service treatment records, VA medical records after discharge. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that you can learn nearly all there is to know about someone after reading their C-file. At the C-file review, we can see the true strength or weakness of a case.
The Review
I will be blunt, not everyone can be a c-file reviewer. I know that I can’t do it. It requires concentration, discipline, and an attention to detail that I simply don’t have. When one does a review, they are looking for evidence to support each of the Veteran’s claims. Granted, if he or she only has one claim, and a short file, this isn’t too difficult. That’s a rarity, though. Most Veterans have multiple claims and their c-files are thick. Keep in mind that sometimes a person reviewing the file may have to search through thousands of pages of records to find small pieces of evidence to support a claim. It’s not just military medical records in these files too. Sometimes we have to look through admin records, or ship logs to prove a Veteran was in a certain location at a specific time.
We even find mistakes made by the VA. During the review, if the Veteran has filed a previous claim, we review the decisions made by the VA to see if any mistakes were made. We do find mistakes from time to time. We pride ourselves on this level of commitment and attention to detail. Finding mistakes can make a huge difference for our clients.
Why a Team?
In the past, we only had a few people who could properly evaluate a c-file. However, because the review is so crucial, and the information can be so intricate, we decided to develop a special team to better evaluate our client’s C-files. As you know, so many important pieces of information come from this file. With that in mind, we wanted to be more thorough with our reviews and also evaluate them quicker. So, we assembled a team of people to review them. This team includes a mix of existing veteran employees and new team members. All the c-file reviewers went through a tough training program in order to make it on the team. The strength in numbers is helpful too when we receive the files from the VA. Sometimes they arrive in paper form and have to be sorted.
Once again, the C-file is one of the most important aspects of any VA Disability Claim. We pride ourselves on the hard work of all of our team members, and this C-File team is an exciting new way to better serve our clients. We are dedicated to helping Veterans get the benefits they deserve.
If you’d like to know more about the VA Disability services we provide, or if you’d like to become a client, call us today for a free consultation. Our toll-free number is 1-877-526-3457. If you can’t talk now, fill out this form, and we will be happy to call you at a more convenient time.
