Without divulging any names, (boy howdy do your ears just perk up) I admit joining a new think tank. We loosely call it The Syndicate although it’s far more informal than a Wounded Wallet “All Hands on Deck!” alert. Relax. We don’t meet in Colo. Springs at the Broadmoor and drink killer single malt. I wish. Think Zoom unless you live in the greater Sacramento area and want to attend their Happy Hour in situ.

My idea of a solution is I have to get Wifi down to the pool for this important event pronto. It intrudes on my swimming time. I can multitask. I’ve never tried it but it can’t be that hard. We here in the northern climes have to wait until afternoon to go down and break the ice on the ce-ment pond. I keep it waaaaay down at 88° to save energy and prevent Global Warming. The Syndicate insists on meeting precisely when I begin my trek down there with the sledgehammer and my Oscar the Grouch innertube in hand.

We ( I have no idea how many of us) meet once a month to discuss how recent history is going to impact our goals of winning our clients’ SMC. We discuss recent precedential cases which may be helpful for one of us. We report strange anomalies in The Force to one another about changes in VA procedures or how the raters react to any given method we use to litigate. In a word, it’s like Robin Hood and his Merry Men. The Three Musketeers. All for one and One for all. It’s like a free mini legal conference every month but without the CLEs. BYOB.

The Syndicate’s commonality is our membership in a Fraternal Order of VA Ambulance Chasers ( no names to protect the innocent). What absolutely floors me is  the fact that most of these folks are real attorneys and yet still  give a shit about their clients and not their hair or their Lexus. How cool is that?

Given the last week or so in history, we’ll have a lot to digest tomorrow. I have a case slowly making it’s long tortuous way back from the CAVC. It was sitting there AOD in CASEFLOW with “Distributed to Judge” about a month and then Poof! Faerydust. It went into “On Hold.” with VLJ Chris Wendell. Chris seems to be the resident ‘on-hold’ line judge who throws the Yellow Flag and sits on these puppies until some OGC precedent can be established or decided on as on point. I’ve found him in several of my cases. He’s like Puxsuatawny Phil not showing up…six more weeks of winter on your appeal.

One thing is for sure. Every VLJ has an in-basket regardless their rank. But what could possibly cause a 1970 Five banger (five trips to DC + MFR) BVA case to go into Purgatory twice in one life span? On a Vacate and Remand from the Court, no less. My guess? The death of Chevron deference the day it went on hold again. I’m not holding my breath or chilling the Dom. Yet. Check it out. 22-3069. Roberto and me have been working this one since 2012.

The biggest thing on the Friday menu was the recent announcement Monday by the Under Secretary for Excuses Billybob Oops. He had the unpleasant job of going up to Capitol Hill and explaining to the House Vets Committee they were somehow about $15 B-b-b-billion over budget all the way into next year and wanted to know if they could get a $2.5 bil payday loaner until October. Wait. It gets better.

I get a lot of calls from VA litigators and they all like to spoof their caller origins. The ones coming from the Seattle DROC all come in with the main switchboard identification of the Seattle VAMC over on Beacon Hill (206) 762-1010. Pretty tricky, huh? The DROC is down south across the street from Sea Tac Airport. Since I eschewed using VA medical in 2010, I just know they aren’t calling to remind me my colonoscopy exam is overdue.

So, for about the last year  or so, the phone’s been ringing and the 762-1010 comes up-but no Denise Dolittle from the VA calling to set up a HLR IC. Instead, I hear that elevator music lady kick in after about a five-second pregnant pause… “Hellooo, sailor! This is the VA calling. We’ve identified you by your VA records as having been exposed to some nasty harmful chemicals. You should file for the PACT Act and get valuable benefits. Call 800 Dial a Prayer as soon as possible and let them know you are interested in filing a claim for Burn Pit exposure immediately. Valuable prizes included with this exciting once in a lifetime offer.”

So, if you’re crowing about how many Vets you’ve gotten service connection and PACT benefits for (1.5 million) caused by cold calling them up and inviting claims wholesale, and then paid them out about $2.1 billion dollars… then you may be a VA employee. Just sayin’. No hard feelings, hear? Kinda makes you wonder how they get their underwear on facing the right way in the morning.

In closing, I’ll say this. If you have a lot of bad JU JU left over from a prior war (or conflict like Panama/ Grenada) and are worried about getting into Heaven, there’s no business like Vet business. It doesn’t have to be down in the legal trenches or slogging it out behind a VSO desk. There are untold opportunities out there to help Veterans out. If you’re stymied, think up something new that might benefit them. Bake cookies and go down to the local Supermarket and set up. Cookies for Veterans and their families only. How cool is that? Color me there.

The obvious problem with that is you’ll inevitably have a Marine or Army Recruiter trying to set up a booth right beside you in short order. And they’ll steal your cookies.