There is never any upfront cost for our services, and no cost at all for our representation in court appeals
How much will this cost?
One of the most common questions we get from people who are considering hiring an attorney to assist them with their VA claims is “how much will this cost?” The fees we receive depends on whether we are performing work before a court or within VA’s internal appeal process. You can read more about our fees below.
Fees for Court Representation
We will never charge you a cent to represent you in an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or U.S. Supreme Court. All work we do in support of your court appeal is absolutely free to you. Under a law known as the “Equal Access to Justice Act,” or “EAJA,” we are permitted to send the bill for our services to VA if we are able to win your appeal. This means that any fee for our services before a court won’t cost you anything (and won’t have any impact on the amount of retroactive benefits you may receive in the future). And if we are not able to win your appeal, you still won’t owe us anything.
Fees for VA Representation
We do not charge any up-front fees for our services working on your claims and appeals which may be pending before a VA Regional Office or the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Rather, our fees are based on what is known as a “contingency.” This means that you will not owe us anything unless we are able to win benefits for you and the win results in VA paying you a lump sum retroactive payment. In such a circumstance, our fee is 20% of the retroactive award. For example, if we are able to win an appeal that results in a retroactive award of $10,000, the fee for our services would be $2,000. If we are not able to win you anything, you will not owe us anything. Also note that our fees will in no way impact the amount of your monthly benefit payment going forward, meaning you will always receive 100% of the monthly payment VA owes you from the date of VA’s decision.