‘That’s why I am here: to help my peers’

Legion’s second DSO Symposium brings together department service officers worldwide to Virginia for week of training, networking. 

For the second straight year, The American Legion collaborated with Bergmann & Moore – one of the largest law firms in the country with a sole focus on veterans’ disability benefit claim appeals – to provide a week of intensive training and education to dozens of the Legion’s accredited service officers.

And for the second straight year, American Legion Department of France Service Officer Frank Phillips made the long plane flight from Germany to attend the second annual DSO Symposium in Leesburg, Va. And the week-long training for American Legion department service officers (DSOs) will continue to be on Phillips’ schedule for as long as he is volunteering to assist veterans with their U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits claims and appeals.

“I will do this every time,” said Phillips, a member of Post GR 1982 in Ansbach. “I find every time I come over here, I learn something new. That’s No. 1 – so I can help my vets. And No. 2 is the networking is very important. I have a lot of transitioning (veterans) from overseas to the state. Now I meet these people (at the symposium) … and I can do handoffs. I’ve done work with California, New York, Texas, and when I talk with them, then I can just hand off and be sure that my veteran’s going to be taken care of like they’re supposed to.”

The daily schedule included various claims and Board of Veteran Appeals scenarios with classroom conversations and assigned homework, as well as guest speakers that included Legion staff. Participants also witnessed a U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims hearing, heard from the court’s chief judge, and went through a graduation ceremony on Oct. 24.

The symposium’s training is delivered by Bergmann & Moore (B&M), which has provided American Legion service officer training and legal consultation since 2017. Glenn Bergmann, one of B&M’s managing partners, said hearing from participants in the inaugural DSO Symposium helped shape this year’s edition.

“We absolutely had growth areas. We got good feedback last year, and so what we did with that is when we huddled up again with our team, we identified newer lessons, and we also identified newer activities,” Bergmann said. “Last year, what we were told is we gave a lot of instruction, and we didn’t allow the participants to interact as much. That’s what we learned last year, and that’s what we integrated this year. We had a lot more interactivity amongst the groups, and we’re hearing very favorable responses as a result of that.”

Bergmann said the symposium’s instructors have a symbiotic relationship with the service officers attending the program. “We need to learn just as much as the department service officers need to,” he said. “We are on the frontlines, but we don’t always talk to the people in the trenches. The more we hear, the more we learn from them. It makes us sharper, and iron sharpens iron.”

Why Attend? Department of Kentucky Service Officer Sally Sloan spent more than 22 years in the U.S. Army. When she left the military, her plans weren’t to become a service officer. But her first husband’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War – and later death related to his condition – altered her career trajectory.

“I saw him at a (Veterans Benefits Administration) office way back … and how they treated him,” said Sloan, a member of Post 34 in Lawrenceburg. “I asked to be a post service officer when we moved to Kentucky, and I learned some of the paperwork. He had ischemic heart (disease) and didn’t want anything to do with (filing for a VA claim).

“So, one day I was putting together papers that he needed to sign, and I stuck the (VA disability claim form) in there, and he signed away. And a couple months later he had a deposit in his bank account that was from the VA. He said, ‘Why do I have this?’ I told him, ‘That’s for your ischemic heart that you should have filed for umpteen years ago.’ That worked so well, so I was like, ‘I like doing this.’”

She’d participated in previous Bergmann & Moore training programs, calling it “invaluable,” which is why she wanted to attend this year’s symposium. And she’s glad she made that choice.

“My brain is stuffed with information,” she said. “It’s like you’re split. Half of you is, ‘Oh my gosh, I have all this stuff I can do for the veterans I serve in the future.’ And then you look back and it’s, ‘Did I miss something on somebody that I learned here?’

“But that’s why I am here: to help my peers. To assist my brothers and sisters that I have served alongside.”

Department of Indiana Service Officer Bryce Hullett, a member of Kenneth N Dowden Wayne Post 64 in Indianapolis, made a return trip to the symposium this year. For him, it’s about staying current with VA regulations, as well as networking with fellow service officers.

“It’s the quality of the training. And we always get new court cases that become law and can help us,” Hullett said. “And at the same time, we come across other service officers across the world, and they have things that have helped them win claims for veterans, and we’re able to share those with each other. That not only helps us. It helps the veterans.”

Back And Forth. On Thursday, the service officers were able to take part in a Q&A with the Bergmann & Moore staff that covered a variety of issues. The first question presented to the lawyers and their staff was what the Legion could do via lobbying Congress to make easier their efforts representing veterans – specifically regarding to any new laws or changes to current laws.

“Clarity as to how evidence windows work in (Appeals Modernization Act) would help, because we’re having a little trouble in figuring out what the board is supposed to be looking at in some of these cases, depending on exactly when it entered the record,” B&M partner Thomas Polsano said. “I know there is some legislation pending on this. Maybe that will help us figure it out, because we don’t want to be arguing in court in every case about what the evidence is. That’s not getting anybody very far. But kind of have to do that right now.”

Bergmann added to the discussion by bringing up the issue with predatory companies charging fees to veterans to file their VA claims. “It’s easy for bad advocates – aka claims sharks – to easily make money,” he said. “I feel that we, as advocates, can connect dots without presumptives. And it keeps out a lot of bad actors, I think.”

Hearing From The Top. For the second year, the symposium hosted an actual hearing conducted by the U.S. Appeals Court for Veterans Claims, which has exclusive jurisdiction over decisions of the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA). Judges Margaret Bartley, Amanda Meredith and Joseph Toth presided over the hearing, which dealt with a caregiver claim.

Following the hearing, all three judges took part in a panel discussion and Q&A with attendees, touching on a variety of issues and questions, including:

·         Judge Bartley was asked if her past experiences as a veteran advocate, including serving as senior staff attorney for the National Veterans Legal Services Program, impact her decisions in her current role. “I don’t think that any judge could ever say with a straight face and with absolute honesty that their past experience does not inform how they approach the law,” Bartley said. “That’s part of being human, and until we have AI making the decisions … then that’s just going to be the case. That doesn’t mean that I rule for the veteran every time. I’ve written decisions against the veteran. I try and just absorb the law and absorb the facts and see where it leads. That’s really what I’ve always tried to do.”

·         The importance of the quality of a veteran’s claim record also was the topic of discussion. “One way to think of it is the front of the case is actually the most important part of the case,” Toth explained. “As a case kind of travels on, it will go from more facts to more technical. It gets more legal as it kind of goes on. I think one of the difficulties is that usually by the time we’re involved, we’re looking for something very technical … and a fact that triggers that. It’s hard on the front end to kind of figure out what legal issues will be kind of implicated by different things. Just get the facts in front of the adjudicator as quickly as possible. Get them in the fullest form and just tell the story of how this person was injured. Don’t worry about the technical things.”

·         The trio also was asked if they had any additional advice to the service officers performing their responsibilities in a pro-veteran, non-adversarial manner. “Pro-veteran doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proactive. Waiting on someone else to resend the form,” Meredith said. “There’s no reason not to be a forceful advocate because there are obligations on both sides to help the veteran and their family members.”

And prior to the Oct. 25 graduation ceremony, the service also heard from U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Chief Judge Michael Allen, who made it a point to show his appreciation for the efforts of the Legion’s service officers.

“I want to thank you for all you do for veterans and their claimants in the system,” he said. “Without the dedicated people and the work that you do, so much of the things that we see are going to be in a much worse state when they come to us than they otherwise would be.”

Bergmann said having the court’s judges traveling to the symposium to interact with the service officers is one of the week’s highlights. “The court doesn’t have to come out. It’s a privilege for us. They’re very gracious to do it,” he said. “Any time that the court is willing, we’re just so thankful for them to hear a case and interact. I think the students appreciate it.

“And it’s respect for what The American Legion department service officers are doing. (Allen) recognizes that. He’s a teacher at heart. We’re hungry: We, as lawyers, and the department service officers are hungry for advice from the top decision makers of these cases.”

Graduation Day. The final day saw the DSOs receive their certificates, encouragement and accolades from their instructors and American Legion staff.

“The bottom line is you attended a wonderful week of some really thorough and important training that I think will benefit our veteran community for years to come,” said Mario Marquez, the Legion’s Executive Director of Government Affairs. “Not only through the development of your knowledge and expertise, but it’s also going to be passed on through your legacy and whoever you interact with and exchange that information with, and how you support our veteran community, survivors and all of their families for years to come.

“Courses like this truly help hone our skills, especially in times of modernization, whether it’s constant rule changes or regulation change. As other entities enter the space and compete for the work that you do, this is even more important because we have to perfect our profession. The work you do is so critical to maintain services that are free … and provide it to our veteran community. There’s a lot of competition out there that’s trying to take away what you do for a fee. That’s predatory, and many times it’s fraudulent.”

During graduation, the Top Graduates of this year’s class were announced. Those recipients were Summer Kristianson (Department of North Dakota); Michael Lacy (Department of Texas); and Spencer Layton, Makea Barton and Lori Medley (all Department of Virginia).

Bergmann was pleased with the second edition of the symposium but said his group will continue to look to make the program even better. “From my perspective, I think it went really well,” he said. “This kind of thing is exhausting. We took nine people from our office. There were 50-some people from The American Legion and American Legion staff. We want to improve, regardless. We know we still have more growing to do, add more content and be sharper for next year.”

Bergmann also said that while he appreciates that DSOs want to return to the training, it’s important that each year includes new faces.

“We appreciate we have repeat (participants), but we’re intentional about wanting to bring new department service officers in because there is some repeat. There is some review,” Bergmann said. “We appreciate the fact that people want to come back, but we really want to train the trainers so (symposium graduates) can then go out and train.

“There’s over 2,000 department service officers, I think. If we’re speaking to the same group each year, it has limited reach. What we really want to do is get new faces in. I don’t mind to see the old faces, as long as they go back and mentor. Mentoring is critical. I think that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”