John B. Gately, lawyers in Virginia Beach, VA, Virginia

No matter how severe your injuries, it is critical to the success of your case that you obtain non-medical evidence from your supervisors, co-workers, friends and family showing how your injuries prevent you from performing your duties.

Why you need non-medical evidence to support your claim:

You need non-medical evidence to support your claim because the focus of military Physical Evaluation Board cases is on how these injuries affect you in the performance of your duties. You may have ten injuries that are ratable under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, but that does not mean that you will receive a disability rating from the military for these injuries. The burden is on you to show how these injuries each separately prevent you from performing your duties. If you do not work with your attorney to prepare this area of your case, you will likely be very disappointed in the results.

But, you will have no one to blame except yourself because I am providing you with the information that you need to accomplish this task in ten hours or less within the text of this newsletter.

Defining your goals in preparing non-medical evidence:

When preparing non-medical evidence letters, you must decide whether you wish to be found fit or unfit.

If you wish to be found unfit:

If you wish to be found unfit, then you need to have letters showing how many hours per week that you miss from work. In preparing these letters, you need to bear in mind that time spent at medical appointments should be viewed as time missed from work. Most service members do not realize this fact, as they consider time spent at medical appointments to be time spent on duty. While this is technically true, it is time that you are not at your appointed place of duty and should be viewed as such in preparing your case.

If you wish to be found fit:

If you wish to be found fit, then your letters will focus on well you perform your duties and why your injuries do not prevent you from performing your duties in an exemplary manner.

Four steps to preparing winning non-medical evidence letters for your friends and co-workers:

Step One: The first paragraph of non-medical evidence letters from co-workers or supervisors should describe how long they have known you and in what context.

Step Two: The next paragraph should describe any decline in your ability to perform your duties that they have noticed, i.e. do you have to: come in late, leave early or take frequent breaks during the day due to your injuries?

Step Three: The third paragraph should identify the number of hours that you miss from work eaach week due to your injuries.

Step Four: The conclusion should state that you are a valued member of the unti who, but for these injuries, would be well-suited for promotion or positions of increased responsibility.

Obviously, if you are trying to be found fit, then these letters should focus on how you are able to perform all of your duties in the workplace.

Letters from friends and family should focus on how your injuries prevent you from engaging in recreational and sociall activities that you once enjoyed.

Free Sample Letter: If you need help writing such a letter for your supervisors, peers and family, then please send me an e-mail message requesting a sample letter. This service is provided free of charge to visitors to this web site. If you have other questions regarding your case, then please feel free to call me at (757) 481-0772, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.