VA Higher Level Review-- Is it a Good Choice?
By Douglas I. Friedman of Friedman Law Firm, P.C.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Higher Level Review Appeal -- --; Is it a good choice?
Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. Our experience has been mixed because it depends on the competence of the Decision Review Officer.
The VA changed its entire claim process in February 2019. Now, instead of just one way to appeal a case, there are five ways. The HLR is just one of them. This has made the appeals process much more complicated.
The Decision Review Officer conducts the Informal Conference for the HLR and the DRO therefore controls what happens. If the DRO does the minimum allowed, the DRO will only listen to what your lawyer has to say, and not discuss the case at all.
We believe that when that happens the DRO may not have even read the file-- sometimes they admit this outright! So, basically, your lawyer would be speaking to someone who knows nothing about your case.
These cases are complicated. VA claim files are often thousands of pages long. Before the Informal Conference we review the entire file so we can discuss it with the DRO. If the DRO will engage in a discussion with us, we can almost always direct them to evidence that they simply don’t have the time to find on their own. This is not a criticism of the DROs, but just a fact of life in this over-burdened VA system.
Having an informal conference without discussion prevents your advocate -- --; that’s us --; --; from learning what the DRO knows about the evidence, and what the DRO thinks about the evidence. Without that knowledge it’s difficult to steer the DRO in the right direction.
The VA apparently places other limitations on the HLR that can make it difficult. For example, I have been told that the VA instructs the Decision Review Officer not to give me their name or contact information. This makes it very difficult to contact the DRO if something needs to be addressed in advance, such as understanding which issues the DRO is going to consider. Without the contact information we have to call the general VA HLR number. This is not only cumbersome, but it may not work -- no one calls back.
A Higher Level Review seems to work best when the issues are simple and obvious. For issues that require some elbow grease, however, we are finding that requesting a hearing with the Board of Veterans Appeals may be a better alternative. The problem there is that the backlog is so large that it may take five years from a hearing request to get a decision. Hopefully that will change, but right now you are faced with choosing between an HLR, with its obvious limitations, and a long wait.
If you have any questions about the VA appeals process, call us at 205-879-3033 or email at LifeHealth@FriedmanFirmPC.com
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