As the Veterans Administration begins efforts to improve its level of service under new leadership, a local law school is continuing its efforts to help vets navigate the VA.
When the American Bar Association passed a resolution last summer encouraging law schools to create special law clinics for veterans, the one at Widener Law School in Wilmington was held up as a strong example of such a clinic.
Clinic director Sue Saidel has gotten used to working long hours. As the director of the veterans’ law clinic here at Widener, she handles up to 250 cases at a time. And those 250 cases are just the tip of the iceberg...the clinic has a long waiting list.
Saidel and her staff help former soldiers with injuries and disabilities incurred during service. These vets have already had their claims denied by the VA, so by the time they get to Saidel, they’re going through an appeals process.
“A lot of our clients have filed for these benefits for years, and are denied and they refile and refile and refile. And eventually some of them will make their way to us. And we’re able to give it a fresh look and find out where they’re going wrong,” she said.
A lot of the difficulty vets have in getting special VA benefits comes from proving that their disability began during service. That disability could range from PTSD to orthopedic problems, and must be impacting their ability to work.
Saidel and her staff go through mountains of paperwork to pinpoint when the disability started. They have to look through old medical records to find evidence that the vet’s claims are valid. Then they file an appeal to the VA. The entire process can take up to ten years.
The complexity of the cases can also be overwhelming. Law student Candice Walker says that’s her main challenge at the clinic.
“The hardest part is second-guessing myself. It’s finding the law, hoping that what you have taken from all of what you read in the case law is the right analysis or the right application.”
Despite the challenges and the paperwork, Saidel says the clinic has made some enormous strides for veterans -- recovering more than 6 million dollars for clients during its 17 years of existence and 3.8 million in the last 4 years.
“Over the last fiscal year the clinic was able to get 1.4 million dollars in retroactive benefits for veterans and also each one of those veterans is getting ongoing monthly payments.”
Widener is poised to become a model for law schools all over the country, especially as more and more veterans come back from Iraq and Afghanistan.