Jon Hollis
Of Counsel
This Veterans Day, we want to thank Jon Hollis, an Army veteran and attorney in our Richmond office, for his pro bono work on behalf of disabled veterans. He recently won a “very satisfying and hard-fought” case for a disabled veteran whose claim was originally denied in 2002.
Jon shared his client’s story with us:
I’ve been working on this client’s VA disability benefits claim for three years. The client has been trying to get benefits for back and knee problems since 2002 for an injury he suffered while serving in the Navy in 1973!
His original claim was denied in 2002. He made a similar claim in 2016, which also was denied. That was the point at which I began representing the client. I appealed the 2016 denial to the Board of Veterans Appeals in D.C. and was able to get his claim re-opened. We then got him a new medical examination and put in additional evidence. The VA just rated him 80% disabled, which is a significant increase over the VA pension benefits he was already receiving. He was also awarded significant back pay based on the age of the claim.
This was a difficult claim and I’m very happy about it, in part because the client has experienced periods of homelessness and other significant hardships over the past few years. This is going to give him some much-needed financial security and help keep him from ending up on the streets again.
Dan Summerlin, President, says, “We encourage our attorneys to give back to our community, including by providing pro bono legal services. Jon has spent many hours serving disabled veterans and we appreciate and admire his commitment to a group that has sacrificed so much for our country.”
