Veterans Attorneys

[Vets Helping Vets]

Since 20 June 2007 veterans applying for disability benefits are now able to hire an attorney, but at a personal cost.

This is much sooner than previously allowed in the VA disability process. This new law changes the way veteran's disability cases are handled and by whom.

The following list of attorneys specialize in Veterans Law. They will give you a free consultation, but charge 20% of the amount of your claims.

Attorneys Who Represent Veterans

Hugh Cox
919.757.3977

Hugh is a sole law practitioner in Greenville, North Carolina specializing in Social Security, Workers Compensation and Veterans' Benefits.

He received his B.A. in 1966 from North Carolina State University and his J.D. in 1974 from North Carolina Central University.

He served as an U.S. Army officer in Military Intelligence Branch (1st/5th Special Forces and 82D Airborne Division) from 1966-1971; was an Investigative Assistant for the District Attorney's Office from 1975-1976; a Police Attorney in Greenville NC from 1976-1978; an Assistant District Attorney for the State of North Carolina from 1978-1980; and has been in private practice from 1980 to the present.

While in Vietnam serving with the 5th Special Forces Group in 1968, he was decorated with the Bronze Star. He has been awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, and Special Forces Qualification Tab. A graduate of the Defense Language Institute in 1967, he learned to speak excellent Vietnamese before serving 30 months in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Cox also served in the U.S. Army Reserve (11th Special Forces Group) until 1987.

Mr. Cox is an avid computer user and writes periodic computer articles for the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly. He serves in his second term on the NOVA Board of Directors.

His interest in veteran's benefits matured while serving as a chapter president in the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) in 1987.

Jill Mitchell
210.820.3737 or 800.584.3700

Jill Mitchell has been practicing law since 1991, and veterans’ law exclusively for over ten years. She is accredited to represent veterans and their dependents from all over the country at all levels of the administrative and judicial process.

She has been admitted to practice before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims since 2001, and is also licensed to practice in all courts in the state of Texas.

Mitchell is the wife of an active duty combat veteran and a member of the Board of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, Inc. (NOVA).

She is an active participant in the Veterans’ Consortium Pro Bono Program, the Detroit Mercy School of Law Project SALUTE, and the University of Texas School of Law Veterans Association.

She has also been a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas since 2002.

In 2009, after working as a sole practitioner for over eight years, she was recruited by the Texas law firm of Heard and Smith, LLP to create and manage its veterans’ law section.

Joseph Moore
877.838.2889

Joe Moore worked for the Board of Veterans' Appeals for 3 years before leaving the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1999 to start his own practice.

In 2004 he joined forces with Glenn Bergmann, a former litigator with the VA Office of General Counsel, to create the law firm Bergmann and Moore, LLC.

Bergmann and Moore has grown to be one of the largest law firms in the country that strictly represent veterans and their families before and against the VA.

Bergmann and Moore is located just outside Washington DC to enable easy contact with key VA personnel, but is a national law firm that represents veterans throughout the 50 states.

Keith Snyder
301.774.1525

Keith is a veteran of four years in the Navy and served as a hospital corpsman between 1969 and 1972.

Mr. Snyder received a B.S. from The American University and a certificate as a Legal Assistant from George Washington Center for Continuing Education in 1976.

In 1983 he received his J.D. from the Washington College of Law, The American University.

Snyder is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

He is also admitted to the Court of Veterans Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. His practice focuses on veterans law.

Before entering private practice in 1989, Snyder was a staff attorney with the Vietnam Veterans of America and the National Veterans Legal Services Project.

He formerly edited the Discharge Upgrading Newsletter, the Veterans Rights Newsletter and the Veterans Law Reporter.

Keith has written extensively about veterans benefits, including a series of self-help guides aimed at veterans, and manuals geared to advocates.

In the mid-eighties he co-authored the VVA Service Representatives Manual; Guide to Veterans Benefits; the Legal Services Practice Manual on Overpayments of VA Benefits.

Harper Collins published the entire guide in 1994.

Keith currently serves on the Court of Veterans Appeals Rules Advisory Committee and is founding member of the National Organization of Veterans' Advocates.

Kenneth Carpenter
785.357.5251

In 1970 Mr. Carpenter earned his B.A. in History and Political Science and a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas.

Kenneth received a J.D. from Washburn University, Law School, Topeka, Kansas in 1972; and a Masters in Adult and Community Counseling from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas in March 1983.

Mr. Carpenter has been engaged in the private practice of law in Topeka, Kansas since 1973.

Admitted to the following courts: Kansas Supreme Court, 1973; Kansas Federal District Court, 1973; 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1984; U. S. Court of FederaICIaims,l987; Federal Circuit Court of Appeals,l989; Court of Veterans Appeals,l990; United States Supreme Court,l990.

Major areas of practice include, but are not limited to, Veterans Disability Law, and Criminal Law.

He is a founding member of the National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, and currently serves as Treasurer of the Board of Directors; Chairman of the Seminar Program Committee; and Chairman of the Advocate Referral Service.

Kenneth is President of Carpenter Chartered, a professional legal corporation which currently employs three full-time attorneys, one attorney who is of counsel, and twelve support staff.

Carpenter Chartered began doing pro bono representation of disabled veterans in 1983.

The primary focus of the firm's representation is with the psychiatrically disabled veteran, most often combat veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The firm also specializes in total disability cases and claims of clear and unmistakable error.

The firm currently has an open case load of more than 400 veterans at every adjudicatory level from initial claims at the Regional office to claims at the United States Court of Veterans Appeals and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Louise DiDonato
775.322.7877

DiDonato, Lt. Colonel, USA (Retired), US Army Infantry - 1969 to 1988; Military Intelligence 1988 to 1991.

Combat Infantry Badge; Jumpmaster; Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth KS; 1st Cav Div. (RVN '72 & Ft. Hood '83); 3rd ID, 7th ID, 101st Abn; 3rd ARVN ID; Director of Intelligence, Special Operations Command Atlantic; General Civil Practice in addition to veterans law.

In 1968 Louise received a B.A. from the University of North Dakota, 1968; 1994 (JD GI Bill - post retirement);

Michael Viterna
800.693.4800

Michael received a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1976; a Master degree in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University in 1990; and a Juris Doctor from the Detroit College of Law in 1995.

Mr. Viterna is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserves and in the Air National Guard.

He has a over 29 years of military service in the medical service career field, achieving the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, with extensive experience in fitness for duty and disability issues.

He has been engaged in private practice dealing with veterans law, Social Security disability and elderly law matters.

He has been admitted to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals and the United States District Court in Michigan.

Robert Howell
866.906.9233

Robert Franklin Howell has been an attorney for 30 years and has the experience you need to win your veterans disability case.

While there are undoubtedly many other attorneys who also have the technical competence to represent you, Robert is a veteran who has stood in your shoes, both in service in the military and in seeking just compensation for his disabililty from the Veterans Administration.

If he can accept your case, Robert will fight hard for your benefits because he has a personal and immediate understanding of what your struggle means to you and your family.

Robert does all of the legal work himself, and does not delegate legal research or analysis to junior attorneys, law students, secretaries or paralegals.

Robert therefore limits the number and types of cases that he accepts, so that each client can receive his personal attention and maximum effort.

Sean Kendall
303.449.4773 or 877.277.2119

Sean received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Colorado in 1988, and his J.D. from George Washington University, National Law Center in 1992.

Mr. Kendall started working in the area of veterans law in the early nineties for the National Veterans Legal Services (NVLSP) Project as a law clerk.

At the NVLSP Mr. Kendall represented veterans before the Board of Veterans' Appeals on behalf of Vietnam Veterans of America.

Following his law school degree Mr. Kendall continued at NVLSP as a statf attorney, working on such cases as the CVA briefing in Emphraim v. Brown, S Vet. App. 549.

In 1993 Mr. Kendall hung out his shingle, concentrating on various administrative law fields of practice. He has briefed several cases on behalf of NOVA as amicus curiae, including Austin v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 547 (1994), with Keith Snyder.

He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Colorado, U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, U.S. District Court, Colorado.

Theodore Jarvi
480.838.6566

In 1966 Jarvi received a degree in industrial Engineering from Arizona State University and a J.D. from Arizona State University in 1973.

Jarvi served in the United States military from 1961 to 1970, and has 23 years experience as an attorney in Arizona. He is currently Staff Judge Advocate for the Arizona National Guard, and continues his law practice in criminal defense, veterans and military law.

He is a charter member of NOVA, and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Veterans Appeals, the Court of Appeals, Armed Forces; and the United States Supreme Court.