Robert Franklin Howell is a combat veteran who has had lengthy experience in dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert was wounded while in Vietnam by NVA rifle-fire. After his Honorable Discharge from the Marines in 1970, he successfully applied for disability benefits from the VA and attended law school through VA's vocational rehabilitation program. Robert clerked for a time, while in law school, for a Veterans Administration legal unit. Robert has also successfully filed his own claims for increased disability benefits, dental reconstruction benefits and housing loan guarantee benefits since entering civilian life. Robert has litigated administrative cases, appeals and jury trials in more than 500 state and federal cases since becoming a licensed attorney in 1976. Robert has a special interest in cases involving psychological injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), total disability due to unemployability, and brain injury due to physical trauma. He also has a special interest in clear and unmistakable error (CUE) claims based on poor past performance by VA decision-makers. 

Robert has a breadth and depth of appellate and litigation experience, and in his career has represented clients in a broad array of cases, from first degree murder cases, to administrative hearings, to jury trials in catastrophic personal injury cases. Several years ago, however, Robert decided to focus his law practice on veterans' disability benefits claims and appeals. A major reason for this decision was his experience with the bureaucratic process when he applied for an increased disability benefits award in his own case, more than 20 years after his initial award, and once again encountered the bureaucracy. Although Robert was once again successful in his own case, he was also amazed at how convoluted and frustrating the administrative claims process has become, and how patently unfair it is now to veterans, who deserve an equal playing field with the DVA, which has a full staff of attorneys to advise officials in how to attempt to legally justify denial of veterans' claims. 

Veterans have literally given their blood, sweat and tears to defend this great country. Now it is the government of this country which owes a great and unpaid debt to its disabled veterans. Our veterans should not be faced with the endless red tape and technical bureaucratic denials which plague the DVA's veterans benefits system. You have no doubt experienced the frustration that results from butting up against a system which often seems more concerned with expediency than fairness. Yet you have had the courage and determination to continue to fight for the benefits to which you are entitled. I salute you.   

The Final Place to Win Your Case.

If you have already filed an appeal to the Court of Veterans' Appeals, you will no doubt have also already received many letters from veterans appeals attorneys. Unfortunately, this direct mail system is necessary because there is no way for an appeals attorney to fully assess the merits of your case without a careful review of your entire claims file, and in the vast majority of cases there is no way for an attorney to access your claims file while your case is still at the administrative claims level. Thus, for claimants to have access to attorney-representation, it ordinarily means that the attorney must decide whether to take the appeals case without first having a thorough knowledge of it. However, I will be able to make a reasonably accurate decision about your case if you are able to send me a copy of the most recent decision from the DVA, by fax to 831-372-0173, or by snail-mail to 2100 Garden Road, Suite C301, Monterey CA 93940. As soon as I have had a chance to review the DVA decision I will promptly contact you, so please be sure to include your telephone number or e-mail address. I will tell you what I think about your claim and about the likelihood of success at the CAVC, and I will also answer any questions you may have about remaining remedies before the BVA.  

If I cannot take your case, or if you would prefer to discuss it with other attorneys, I can also recommend other attorneys whom you may wish to consider. However, I strongly urge you to retain an attorney -- even if it is not me -- because I guarantee you that the Department will be fully represented at the CAVC by able and experienced counsel who will leave no stone unturned in once again attempting to defeat your claim. If you would like to discuss your case or the possibility of me representing you --

 contact the Robert Franklin Howell Law Office.