Legal Fees (Assorted Topics)

I understand the frustration and I have my share.....but a few months ago when the decision was made....it could have been that we get nothing. The decision of one judge made the difference and yes the GOC own us. But we have to pay lawers et they don't come cheap...that's the price we have to pay for the GOC's mistake. As I remember correctly, 3 years ago when I recieved the letter from the firm, it is said that they would take 30% IF THEY WIN, AND NOTHING IF THEY LOOSE. from my point of view it's been a risk free gamble to everyone....now that we won it's like everyone want's the butter and the money of the butter.

Yes we want it fair for everyone.....but than again whatever the outcome, what is fair ? even if it is......is it really going to bring you back the way you were? It's too many questions with a lot of stress and worst case scenarios. I'm just happy that we are going to have something after all those unfair mistakes

D.M.
"but I stand firmly beside my decision to sign the fee arrangement and papers to file the case"=sell out

acerman1234

Ironman I am not angry at Dennis or the lawfirm. Far from it. I just don't like the idea that somebody would be taking unfair advantage of us/me. A days pay for a days work and not a penny more. The principle that we have ZERO control of how much money will be stripped from us is criminal.
Believe me when I say that I have been forced to pay lawyers fees over defending myself from others. Everytime I go see a lawyer it costs me everthing I have but not a penny more. I pay for this service to defend myself and I am not expected to pay boat loads of money in extra fees.
We all know that the only people who really profit from a lawsuit is the lawyers. Because they make the rules and can change them when they want depending on their skills on litigating we are at their mercy. This is reality.
Based on the principle of this case, we should not have been clawed back in the first place. The GOC through SISIP dictated that they would claw back money if we were disabled. The GOC should not profit further from this case by not paying our legal fees. They already profited from it from all the savings they took from us over the years. In essence even though they will be giving us our money back in retro they will keep the interest on all that money. It should be used to pay the lawyers and not us.
I appreciate what lawyers can do in the respect that they can defend us when needed I just don't like the idea of being unfairly stripped of our retro.

SISIP should have a complete record of every veteran that was entitled to LTD even if they had been zeroed out from the start. The difficulty will be to track everyone down, which shouldn't be difficult, as each veteran has a file with Veterans Affairs. Some one needs to do a mind meld with each entity and sort this out!

ironman708 play nice

Missing informations is the case of many.....but it's not Dennis of the firm that you have to throw youre anger at. If you are a veteran and you live as far as the north pole or you close yourself to the rest of the world.....how the f*&$%#ck you think you can get informed? To be more constructive ....I think that at least the VAC should provide those kind of information because they are the ones who can reach all the veterans...even if you live in youre closet.

redfisher, I sympathize with your situation and I would suspect there are many veterans who are disenfranchised and hurting. I have to believe in our lawyers wisdom and at the same time I am certain there are provisions in place to locate the isolated vets and their families regarding this case. I don't think they the lawyers will leave any vets behind on this situation. In terms of the legal fees, I think it wise to wait till the end because I don't believe the lawyers will get 30% it is a starting point but most likely alot less. If you think about opting out, please be cautious because the grass is not greener on the other side and I don't want people to make decisons on a reactive basis because they never work out in one's favor. I have read alot here on csat and this is the conclusion that works for me and some of my fellow vets. All the best to you and I am glad to see you are beginning to step out onto the grass again friend. Sparrow

Dennis, even though there was alot of PR for this case there are vets who are not able to interact with the world. It took me about 4 years after getting back from Afghanistan before I could watch the news, read a paper, or even talk to anyone military. I was in so much mental anguish I wanted so desparately to just leave the world and live in the forest where nobody could find me. Needless to say I could barely go outside my house in the fear that somebody would be walking down the street near me. Everything for me was a threat even walking on grass scared the crap out of me.
My point is that there are vets out there living in the woods and do not know what is going on in the world. No matter how much PR is going on they will never know about this lawsuit. So it is not ethically fair to say that they have to pay legal fees on something they know nothing about.

g

"Doesnt matter" go into chat if you wish.

Me too, but I don't think it will be necessary due to the grace and generosity of Peter, Dan, Ward....

Glad to see you man.

D

Dennis,

This is true, and if the judge sees injustice he or she has alot of power to see fit to remedy the injustice. I hope many sent an impact statement to judge Barnes. It does help a bit.

Supreme

oh yeah, i have been called allot worse then stupid, but I stand firmly beside my decision to sign the fee arrangement and papers to file the case, which were the norm for a class action and a case of this magnitude.

Several veterans lobbied for many years to end the claw back with politicians and bureaucrats to no avail, prior to March 2007 when we filed the case in Fed court....nothing besides a legal challenge to the unlawfulness of the claw back clause would have moved any government to change.

Dennis

DCHD, wait until you see the proposal, then judge.

Without the fee arrangement and the legal case, no one would have seen any recovery of retro, nor would the go forward payments have happened at all, without legal deductions etc...

I am sorry you never heard about this case before you released, but it was not hidden. National media coverage, countless press conferences in Ottawa, here in Halifax, covered by national news, posted to SISP web site, VAC web site, and folks from coast to coast talking about the case, both veterans and still serving members.

Peter even hired a PR firm to create the leavenovetbehind website and do promotional videos, assist me and legal with handling and organizing the media etc.

The case was heard in Jan 2010 in the SCOC in Ottawa which again was covered nationally as was the favourable decision to allow us to proceed as a `class action`that paved the way for the victory.

Not knowing is tough to swallow for me, based on the above.

Cheers

Dennis

Isnt it all an assumption that its 30% ?Really we will only know when the proposal comes out in Jan.As for taxes well you have to pay them when you get it...doesnt matter if you get it now or 10 yrs ago.You have to pay taxes thats life.For some reason i can see that peter will put a reasonable fee(who knows maybe it will be 5% and GOC 25%) No one will know til it happens.Dont get pissed off until you see that it will be 30%