Fees and Payments

I thought attorneys were expensive?

At this time, Mrs. Bedford-Rank is only accepting cases in which a recent Board of Veteran Appeals (Board) decision or VA Regional Office (RO) decision has been issued. This means that within a 1-year period you have received a Board or Regional Office decision on the issue(s) you would like to appeal.

If you have any NEW claims you have not filed for yet, Mrs. Bedford-Rank is UNABLE to take your case, until ALL claims have been adjudicated OR you are appealing a Board of Veterans Appeals decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims.

Upon consultation, fee structure and agreement will be discussed further, but in general we do not charge for new claims or increased rating claims. We can only charge for, and be compensated on, appeals that result in a retroactive award. The percentage of retroactive award we charge is between 20 and 25 percent.

What happens if the Board denies my claim? Can I appeal further?

If the veteran decides to continue the appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims (CAVC), there is no charge to the veteran. In cases before the CAVC with a favorable outcome, Mrs. Bedford-Rank is able to charge court fees to the Veterans Administration under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).

EAJA allows attorneys like Mrs. Bedford-Rank to represent veterans before the CAVC without charge to the veteran or payment from veteran benefits. In this case, the attorney will submit hours worked to the CAVC and under the provision of "reasonable fees" the Court will order the Veterans Administration (VA) to pay the attorney fees. In this case the veteran does not pay any attorney fees.

An agreement to allow Ms. Bedford to participate in EAJA fees is arranged prior to representation and is incorporated within the initial attorney representation forms.

Click Here for a further explanation of fee guidelines by the National Organization of Veteran Advocates (NOVA).