Law clinic offers service to those who served in Armed Forces

NORFOLK

A handful of veterans showed up at an Ocean View VFW post Wednesday for free legal advice on applying for disability payments and appealing federal government benefit rulings.

It was a far quieter reception than Project Salute sometimes gets.

When the 31-foot, custom-made RV staffed with students and professors from the University of Detroit Mercy law school kicked off its national tour in San Antonio in February, 200 veterans came out for advice. In Jacksonville, Fla., 400 people showed up, said Mark Gordon, the law school's dean.

The mobile law office will be in Ocean View again today. It offers free legal assistance on the spot to low-income veterans and refers some cases to private attorneys who agree to represent clients for free.

Joon Sung, a Detroit Mercy visiting professor who spoke to a few veterans Wednesday, said a typical application for disabled veterans benefits is about 25 pages long, including five pages of specific instructions in small type.

"It's difficult for the average person to follow," Sung said. "I think the most important thing I can recommend is to seek assistance."

Seeking help is even more important when a veteran decides to appeal the denial of a claim or disagrees with a disability rating, Sung said. Those cases sometimes take years to resolve. "It's disheartening, because the process has made veterans give up on their claims," Sung said. "The process shouldn't be that difficult. It shouldn't be that time-consuming."

Jon LaPoint regularly stops at VFW Post 3160 in Ocean View to catch up with friends. He came this time for advice.

LaPoint spent 10 years in the Navy as a boiler technician, working deep inside ships and serving in the first Persian Gulf War. Years of opening and shutting valves took a toll on his right elbow, he said, and he was treated for tendi nitis while in the Navy.

The 47-year-old Norfolk man can't figure out why his claim for partial disability because of tendi nitis was denied. He does know why his claim for hearing loss, which he filed on his own, was turned down: The ringing in his ears he described isn't technically hearing loss by Veterans Affairs standards. It's called tinnitus, a condition that must be claimed as such.

LaPoint now works as a civilian at Norfolk Naval Station and earns too much money for Project Salute to formally take his case. But Sung was happy to offer advice that LaPoint intends to follow, including getting records from his private doctor added to his VA case file, having his doctor assess his various ailments in writing, and requesting a regional board hearing on his case.

"You feel like you're at war with them," LaPoint said. "I've already been through one war; I don't want to go through another one."

Claims cases can take months or years to resolve, so Gordon, the law school dean, can't yet measure how much money the project has put in veterans' pockets.

"I'm sure it's hundreds of thousands of dollars, at least," he said. He knows of one man from Texas who developed diabetes after serving in Vietnam, where he was exposed to Agent Orange. (The herbicide is considered a presumptive cause of diabetes.)

The veteran, who had been denied disability benefits, developed complications from the diabetes and eventually required an amputation. After Project Salute's help, Gordon said, the man was awarded more than $90,000 in retroactive benefits.

Gordon said he doesn't want to mislead veterans - resolving disputes can take years.

"What has touched me is how grateful they are to us and our students," Gordon said. "I've had a number say to me, 'Even if this doesn't succeed, I'm just so happy someone is helping us.' "

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com