The Mayer Law Blog

Lessons Learned from Recent Discharge Review Board Case

Posted November 25th, 2013 in Military Advocacy, Military Law

Just a few notes from the latest discharge review board case in Washington, DC.

  • A case before a discharge review board should take an experienced military lawyer 15-30 hours of dedicated man hours. 75% or more is spent in preparation. Like any other legal case, issue-spotting is crucial to success.
  • Having a lawyer who understands the military culture, deployments, and military life is critical. This is because everything must be presented in a way that speaks to the military board hearing the case. Only a lawyer experienced in the military system will fully understand this and be able to communicate the same.
  • The more records you have, the better chance the case has of succeeding. Military attorneys, while having access to rules, regulations, and cases, do not have direct access to personnel files. The more work a client does to provide paperwork and records to their military attorney, the more likely a positive result will happen.
  • The burden is on the applicant, and the bar is set relatively high. Take this fact very seriously.
  • At an in-person review at the board, my client was very nervous. It helped to have me sitting beside him, keeping his thoughts and words on-point. Coaching him to succeed made me proud to be a military lawyer.

If you are looking to upgrade your discharge, feel free to contact us.



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