This Marine Corps veteran endured years of frustration while seeking recognition for multiple service-connected conditions. His claims included obstructive sleep apnea, a painful right shoulder with rotator cuff damage, gastroesophageal reflux disease, a right knee ligament sprain, and tinnitus that had gone unacknowledged for more than a decade.

We filed a comprehensive appeal challenging each denial. We argued that sleep apnea was linked to toxic exposure during TERA participation, that orthopedic and gastrointestinal conditions were direct results of service, and that the failure to grant tinnitus years earlier was a clear and unmistakable error. By assembling detailed medical evidence and exposing prior evaluation errors, we compelled VA to correct its decisions.

The Board’s July 2024 ruling granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea at 50 percent effective August 10, 2022; right shoulder strain with rotator cuff tear at 20 percent effective September 15, 2023; gastroesophageal reflux disease at 10 percent effective September 15, 2023; and a right knee ligament sprain at 10 percent effective September 15, 2023. VA also corrected the tinnitus error with a 10 percent rating effective December 25, 2006, preserved the veteran’s 70 percent PTSD rating, and established Dependents’ Educational Assistance. The combined result produced nearly $49,000 in retroactive benefits and long-term security for the veteran and his family.

Our client, an Army veteran, served in Southwest Asia and worked around toxins both overseas and in his everyday military duties. Shortly after leaving active duty in 2013 he filed a claim for a serious heart condition, but VA denied him repeatedly. For years he was told the evidence wasn’t strong enough, even though his deployment history made clear he was exposed to hazardous substances.

We took over his case and filed a supplemental claim under the PACT Act of 2022, which expanded benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins. We documented the cumulative impact of his exposures and challenged inadequate medical opinions. After multiple appeals and an informal conference, we demonstrated that his heart disease met the criteria for presumptive service connection.

In August 2025, VA granted service connection for valvular heart disease with hypertensive heart disease, assigning a 30 percent rating effective July 11, 2022. Because this award pushed his combined rating to the permanent and total level, VA also established Dependents’ Educational Assistance eligibility from August 10, 2022. The decision resulted in $54,144.68 in retroactive compensation and provided vital financial and educational support for his family.

In 1994, our Army client filed a claim for back and respiratory conditions stemming from her service. The VA denied the claim, and the negative decision discouraged her from pursuing benefits further. For 30 years she lived without recognition or compensation for disabilities that began in uniform.

In March 2024 she turned to our firm. We first appealed the 1994 decision and succeeded in reopening her claim. We then requested a Higher-Level Review and, during an informal conference in December 2024, argued that the original denial contained clear and unmistakable errors. We showed that the evidence available in 1994 supported service connection and that VA had misapplied the law.

The VA agreed. It ruled that the 1994 decision was clearly and unmistakably erroneous and granted an earlier effective date for both conditions. Service connection for lumbosacral strain with spondylolisthesis and spinal fusion was established at 10 percent, effective August 25, 1994. Service connection for asthma was also granted at 10 percent, effective the same date. This correction resulted in 30 years of retroactive compensation—a life-changing sum of $81,264.24—and finally acknowledged the veteran’s long-overlooked service-connected disabilities.

Our client, a Marine Corps veteran, had been struggling for recognition of multiple service-related injuries. VA adjudicators had previously denied his claims for ankle sprains, elbow and wrist tendonitis, and related limitations, leaving him without the benefits he deserved. The denials overlooked key evidence and failed to apply the correct standards, an injustice that cost him years of compensation.

We filed a Higher-Level Review and requested an informal conference to present a clear and unmistakable error (CUE) argument. During that conference, we showed that the prior decision misapplied the law and ignored medical findings, and that each of his conditions was clearly linked to his service. The adjudicator agreed, finding that the prior denials were plainly erroneous.

As a result, VA reversed course. Service connection was granted for the veteran’s left and right ankle sprains, left elbow epicondylitis, left elbow medial epicondylitis, left and right wrist strains, and right elbow epicondylitis. Each condition was rated at 10 percent effective February 13, 2021, yielding four years of retroactive benefits and a combined rating of 90 percent. The total award of $57,513.74 not only compensates the veteran for years of overlooked injuries but also affirms that VA errors can be corrected when challenged with diligence and expertise.

Our client, a Marine Corps veteran, came to us after the VA proposed reducing his existing benefits and denied service connection for several secondary conditions. He faced the very real prospect of losing support for back, nerve and joint disorders that clearly stemmed from his service, leaving him and his family anxious about the future.

To protect his benefits, we requested a predetermination hearing with VA adjudicators. During the hearing we presented medical evidence and testimony showing that the proposed reduction was unwarranted and that additional secondary conditions were indeed service connected. At the same time, we submitted a supplemental claim seeking recognition of those secondary conditions.

The strategy worked. In August 2025 the VA issued a new decision that not only preserved his rating but expanded it to cover a wide range of disabilities, including a spinal fusion, bilateral sciatic radiculopathy, cervical spinal degenerative disc disease, shoulder ankylosis, Parsonage–Aldren–Turner syndrome, hip impingement and arthritis, and multiple scars. The cumulative effect of these grants resulted in a 100 percent rating and recognized the veteran as permanently and totally disabled. With a total retroactive award of $70,094.44, the decision affirmed his service-connected hardships and secured long-term financial stability for him and his family.

Our Marine Corps client filed his original VA claim in 2023 for multiple service-related conditions, including back pain, foot problems, radiculopathy and migraine headaches. Despite clear evidence, the VA denied most of his claims. We saw this as an injustice and immediately challenged the decision.

In December 2023 we requested a Higher-Level Review and later participated in an informal conference. During that conference, we argued that VA had failed its duty to assist the veteran by overlooking critical evidence. The review officer agreed; the Higher-Level Review identified duty-to-assist errors for the veteran’s back, flat feet, migraines and sleep apnea. As a result, four previously denied claims were reopened.

By October 2024, after further development, VA issued a new decision. It granted service connection for radiculopathy in both legs (60% each), flat feet and related foot deformities (30%), lumbosacral strain (20%) and migraines (0%). VA also recognized the veteran’s permanent and total disability status and approved Dependents’ Educational Assistance, resulting in a 100% combined rating. This win produced retroactive benefits totaling $70,091.95—a life-changing sum that acknowledges his sacrifices and provides financial security for him and his family.

Our client is a Marine Corps veteran who served her country with distinction. She was already rated 100 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the VA set the effective date more than two years after she first sought benefits. As a result, she was denied thousands of dollars in compensation and an earlier start date for Dependents’ Educational Assistance for her family.

We appealed that decision. We pointed out that her traumatic brain injury (TBI), originally claimed as headaches, was inextricably intertwined with her PTSD symptoms and should have been considered from the outset. Because she filed an intent to file a claim in July 2022 and then submitted a complete application within one year, the law provides that her claim is treated as filed on the date VA received her intent. We also argued that she continuously pursued the claim through each available review option, which means the effective date should be fixed at the date of receipt of the initial claim or date entitlement arose, whichever is later. By carefully documenting the severity of her mental health symptoms—including anxiety, chronic sleep impairment, depression, memory problems, panic attacks and hallucinations—and referencing the VA’s rules against rating the same symptoms twice, we showed that a single 100 percent evaluation under the mental-disorders criteria was warranted.

The VA agreed. In a June 2025 decision, it granted an earlier effective date of July 17 , 2022, for her 100 percent rating for PTSD with traumatic brain injury and revised her eligibility for Dependents’ Educational Assistance. This correction produced a retroactive award of $69,725.34 and provided immediate financial relief to the veteran and her family. By securing this result, we ensured that her service-connected disabilities were fully recognized from the earliest possible date and that her dependents receive the educational benefits they deserve.

Our client, a Navy veteran, first filed a claim for generalized anxiety disorder in 1980. Although the VA eventually recognized the condition, it limited the rating to 30 percent and assigned a much later effective date, leaving decades of service-connected suffering uncompensated. Even after a Board of Veterans’ Appeals remand, the effective-date issue remained unresolved.

We took the case and filed a Higher-Level Review (HLR), arguing that the VA committed clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in setting the effective date. Under VA regulations, when a claimant continuously pursues a claim, the effective date should align with the date of receipt of the original claim or the date entitlement arose.

We gathered lay statements and treatment records showing persistent symptoms—anxiety, chronic sleep impairment, depressed mood, difficulty maintaining relationships, disturbances of motivation and mood, panic attacks, and episodes of unprovoked irritability. These symptoms are consistent with the 70 percent rating criteria for mental disorders, which require evidence of occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas due to symptoms such as impaired impulse control and difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances. We demonstrated that the VA’s earlier 50 percent rating—appropriate only where reliability and productivity are reduced but not severely impaired—was insufficient.

The HLR conceded our argument. The VA corrected the effective date, assigning a 50 percent rating from October 1, 2013 (the date the claim was first continuously pursued) and a 70 percent rating from June 5, 2015, when treatment records first showed impaired impulse control and unprovoked irritability. This decision recognized more than a decade of retroactive entitlement and resulted in an award of $127,575.22 in August 2024. After more than four decades of fighting for recognition, the veteran finally received just compensation and financial relief—a life-changing outcome that underscores our commitment to securing every benefit our clients have earned.

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Our client is a Navy veteran who served during the Gulf War era. Her attempts to obtain service connection for a mental health condition were initially denied despite a current diagnosis and credible reports of in-service trauma. Although she promptly appealed those decisions, the VA continued to rely on inadequate examinations and unpersuasive opinions. These missteps left her without recognition of the link between her service and her mental health symptoms.

We filed a supplemental claim with new and relevant evidence and challenged the sufficiency of the prior adjudications. VA regulations permit re-adjudication when new evidence is presented, and we provided updated medical records and lay statements that directly connected her anxiety and depression to service.

This evidence showed she met the criteria for at least a 50 percent rating because her symptoms—including chronic sleep impairment, depressed mood, memory problems, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation—caused reduced reliability and productivity. We also stressed that the effective date should align with the date VA received her intent to file, consistent with the general rule that an award’s effective date is the date of claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.

In September 2025, the VA agreed. It granted service connection for “unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, severe, and severe alcohol use disorder” and assigned a 50 percent rating effective December 14, 2023. This award, combined with her other service-connected conditions, resulted in a 100 percent combined rating and conferred eligibility for Dependents’ Educational Assistance. The decision also provided nearly two years of retroactive benefits totaling $37,720.96. This outcome validates her service, secures her benefits, and demonstrates our ability to prevail on appeal even after initial denials.

Our client, an Army veteran, had been struggling for years with service-connected migraine headaches. Although the VA recognized the condition, the effective date of the award was set much later than it should have been.
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Through a Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE) argument presented during a Higher-LevelReview informal conference, we successfully demonstrated that the veteran’s effective date should go back to April, 2011. This correction resulted in a 50% disability rating and more than 13 years of retroactive benefits.
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In total, the veteran was awarded $155,820.81—a life-changing recovery that recognized years of service-connected suffering that had previously gone uncompensated.