VA lawyer test could discourage pro bono work - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

VA lawyer test could discourage pro bono work

WASHINGTON — Under pressure from advocacy groups, the Bush administration is reconsidering a rule to require lawyers to take a test before representing military veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is fine-tuning a rule intended to ensure veterans get skilled help to tackle the complicated process of claiming VA benefits.

However, the rule might actually chase away attorneys who accept such cases for free unless the language is changed, advocates say.

“It makes no practical sense to make it harder for veterans to get a free lawyer,” said Ron Abrams, joint executive director for the National Veterans Legal Services Program. “For me to tell a $300- to $500-an-hour attorney at a big law firm, ‘Thanks for donating your time, but now you got to go over to the VA and take a test,’ is beyond ludicrous.”

Similar concerns from many other law firms and the American Bar Association have prompted the VA to reconsider the requirement. The agency is crafting the rule to implement legislation Congress passed last year to update an antiquated law that barred veterans from hiring attorneys until late in the claims process.

Richard Hipolit, the VA’s assistant general counsel, said the Bush administration recognizes critics’ “legitimate concern.”

“We’re definitely considering how we can structure the rule so as not to discourage pro bono representation,” he said, using the legal term for free legal services. “There’s a large veteran community out there, so it doesn’t surprise me there’s been quite a bit of controversy.”

Under the law, veterans can hire attorneys as soon as they are denied benefits or want to challenge benefits they deem inadequate. But it also requires attorneys to be proficient in veterans’ law.

The VA interpreted that to mean lawyers must take a test to prove they understand the procedures for handling claims.

Sen. Larry Craig, the Idaho Republican who chaired the Veterans’ Affairs Committee last year, said Congress wanted to upgrade a provision dating back to the Civil War that protected veterans from poorly trained and unscrupulous lawyers.

But Craig, now the panel’s top Republican, said the administration went too far by requiring a test.

In a letter to departing VA Secretary James Nicholson, Craig and Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said forcing lawyers to take an exam might discourage them from providing free representation.

“We do not agree that imposing a mandatory testing requirement on attorneys complies with either the letter or spirit of those provisions,” they wrote. “We have concerns about the fairness and consequences of this requirement.”

Most veterans use free legal services provided by organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. They also have the option of hiring a private attorney.

Joe Violante, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said his organization opposes the proposed rule largely because it would levy new attorney fees. While he doesn’t oppose requiring paid lawyers to take an exam before representing veterans, Violante said the proposed rule could deter lawyers from donating their time.

VA expects to submit the rule’s final draft to the Office of Management and Budget in the next few weeks.

Hipolit declined to say how the matter would be resolved.

“Nothing is final yet on this attorney thing,” he said.