Veterans

In partnership with The Veterans Consortium, our attorneys have taken on several full-scope cases representing veterans in final-stage appeals to prove entitlement to VA benefits following denials of administrative appeals below and obtained favorable outcomes for those clients. In 2023, dozens of Gibson Dunn lawyers dedicated hundreds of hours to helping veterans referred by the Veterans Consortium in their appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

One of those clients is an 85-year-old veteran of the United States Army Reserves and career educator. As a result of his military service, our client suffers from generalized anxiety disorder, persistent depressive disorder, and other neurocognitive behavior. Although the VA had awarded our client a 100% disability rating from 2021 to 2022, that disability rating was dropped to 50% starting in September 2022. The client had lost his appeal of that rating change when we took on his case. Through zealous advocacy, we were able to convince the VA that the Board of Veterans’ Appeals had erred, and the decision to deny his appeal was vacated. The Gibson Dunn team continues to represent our client in his remand
proceedings before the Board.

Firm lawyers also worked on numerous veterans’ rights matters in partnership with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, focusing on assisting veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in obtaining disability compensation and discharge upgrades. For example, our lawyers have assisted veterans of recent combat in their efforts to obtain discharge upgrades based on mental health conditions, post-discharge conduct, and changes to societal understandings of trauma’s impact on behavior. Additionally, because disabled service members are often discharged instead of treated, we have sought to obtain medical retirement status for veterans who were improperly discharged on the basis of their qualifying disabilities, including seeking retroactive benefits.

Gibson Dunn proudly partners with Swords to Plowshares, a Bay Area-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing holistic support to local veterans. In addition to providing legal support to this vulnerable population, the organization also provides wraparound counseling and case management, access to emergency housing and other critical needs, program and community referrals, and job training.

Through the firm’s Swords to Plowshares relationship, Gibson Dunn attorneys assisted veterans in obtaining access to critical benefits and securing discharge upgrades, regardless of era or length of service. For example, we have helped veterans who received less-than-honorable discharges under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” obtain military benefits to which they are entitled. The process to obtain benefits and correct military records can be complex and difficult to navigate for those without legal training, even when they are undoubtedly deserved. Our lawyers are honored to have the opportunity to provide no-cost legal support for these worthy individuals.