After a year of advocacy, Loeb & Loeb partner Jon Hollis and associate Peter Pottier obtained a 100% disability rating for an Army veteran pursuing an Individual Unemployability (“IU”) claim. Jon and Peter’s client had started his own moving company following his Army service, but had to discontinue his business because of service-connected depression and anxiety. The IU relief that Jon and Peter secured provided their client with increased financial security, as well as a sense that he had been compensated for the loss of his business due to the severity of his service-connected disabilities. This was the first time Jon and Peter had worked on an IU claim, and in addition to the skills development that the work afforded them, they “found the matter fulfilling because [they] were able to find a way to obtain a positive result for the client different from the simple increase of rating that he had originally sought.”

The Freshfields/BOA teams’ Army veteran client, who served on two very dangerous deployments, had previously submitted claims to the VA that all had been denied. Their Navy veteran client previously had been granted only a 10% disability rating for his shoulder. In addition to securing critical financial support for their clients, the teams were able to get to know these veterans and their stories. As Freshfields counsel Jeremy Barr noted, “successfully advocating for meaningful awards to compensate these veterans for their service-related injuries was a great way to thank them for their patriotism.”

The City Bar Justice Center increases access to justice for low-income and disadvantaged New Yorkers by leveraging the volunteered time and expertise of the New York City legal community. The City Bar Justice Center’s Veterans Assistance Project (VAP) provides disabled, low-income veterans in New York City with pro bono legal assistance on issues related to their claims for benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).