The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has emailed the following notice to all accredited attorneys and agents. The notice identifies what the VA calls “recurring problems” with fee agreements between accredited attorneys and agents and the veterans they serve.
US Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Accreditation: Topics of Interest
Hello! This is the first email of a series that will discuss current topics relevant to your accreditation with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). These emails are being sent to all VA accredited attorneys and claims agents. They are intended to help the newer VA-accredited attorneys and claims agents gain familiarity with statutes and regulations that govern VA accreditation, and to provide helpful reminders to those attorneys and claims agents with more experience. This post concentrates on reoccurring problems that we have spotted with fee agreements.
- Mixed Type Fee Agreements. Fees may be based on a fixed fee, hourly rate, a percentage of benefits recovered, or a combination of such bases. 38 C.F.R. § 14.636(e). But, in order to receive direct payment of a fee by VA, the fee must be wholly contingent on favorable resolution of the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 14.636(h)(1)(ii). Thus, please be aware that VA will not provide direct payment for any fee agreements that mixes a contingent fee with a fixed or hourly rate.
- “Exclusive Contact” Clauses in a Fee Agreement. We have noticed a number of fee agreements that purport to restrict VA from contacting a veteran. But a fee agreement is between a client and representative; it does not bind VA and cannot restrict VA from contacting a veteran. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm’n v. Waffle House, Inc., 534 U.S. 279, 294 (2002) (“It goes without saying that a contract cannot bind a nonparty.”). Please make sure that you are using the fee agreement for its intended purpose.
- Restricting Clients Right to Dispute Fees. We have also seen fee agreements that purport to restrict a client’s right to dispute an attorney fee or communicate directly with VA on a matter related to fees. Veterans, however, have a legal right to dispute an attorney’s eligibility to a fee or question the reasonableness of a fee agreement. 38 C.F.R. § 14.636(i). In short, such a clause in a fee agreement is invalid and will not be honored. Continual placement of such a clause in a fee agreement may amount to a misleading of or misrepresentation to the client, a violation of VA’s standards of conduct that could warrant termination of one’s accreditation. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 14.632(c)(3), (8), 14.633.
For additional information concerning VA compensation and pension benefits, visit:
Categories
- Affordable Care Act
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Arbitration
- Attorney Ethics
- Attorneys Fees
- Beneficiary Designations
- Blog Roundup and Highlights
- Blogs and Blogging
- Care Facilities
- Caregivers
- Cemetery
- Collaborative Family Law
- Conservatorships
- Consumer Fraud
- Contempt
- Contracts
- Defamation
- Developmental Disabilities
- Discovery
- Discrimination Laws
- Doctrine of Probable Intent
- Domestic Violence
- Elder Abuse
- Elder Law
- Elective Share
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Estate Administration
- Estate Litigation
- Estate Planning
- Events
- Family Law
- Fiduciary
- Financial Exploitation of the Elderly
- Funeral
- Future of the Legal Profession
- Geriatric Care Managers
- Governmental or Public Benefit Programs
- Guardianship
- Health Issues
- Housing for the Elderly and Disabled
- In Remembrance
- Insolvent Estates
- Institutional Liens
- Insurance
- Interesting New Cases
- Intestacy
- Law Firm News
- Law Firm Videos
- Law Practice Management / Development
- Lawyers and Lawyering
- Legal Capacity or Competancy
- Legal Malpractice
- Legal Rights of the Disabled
- Liens
- Litigation
- Mediation
- Medicaid Appeals
- Medicaid Applications
- Medicaid Planning
- Annuities
- Care Contracts
- Divorce
- Estate Recovery
- Family Part Non-Dissolution Support Orders
- Gifts
- Life Estates
- Loan repayments
- MMMNA
- Promissory Notes
- Qualified Income Trusts
- Spousal Refusal
- Transfers For Reasons Other Than To Qualify For Medicaid
- Transfers to "Caregiver" Child(ren)
- Transfers to Disabled Adult Children
- Trusts
- Undue Hardship Provision
- Multiple-Party Deposit Account Act
- New Cases
- New Laws
- News Briefs
- Newsletters
- Non-Probate Assets
- Nursing Facility Litigation
- Personal Achievements and Awards
- Personal Injury Lawsuits
- Probate
- Punitive Damages
- Reconsideration
- Retirement Benefits
- Reverse Mortgages
- Section 8 Housing
- Settlement of Litigation
- Social Media
- Special Education
- Special Needs Planning
- Surrogate Decision-Making
- Taxation
- Technology
- Texting
- Top Ten
- Trials
- Trustees
- Uncategorized
- Veterans Benefits
- Web Sites and the Internet
- Webinar
- Writing Intended To Be A Will
Vanarelli & Li, LLC on Social Media