Carolyn Burchett
Staff attorney, SSDI and SSI
Carolyn takes SSDI and SSI claims, including children's claims, where school records and therapists' letters carry the case.
A free claims clinic in Clarksville
You don't have to carry this claim by yourself
Outpost is a small legal clinic for veterans with VA disability claims, and for neighbors whose illness or injury has stopped them from working. Tell us where your claim stands and we'll take the next step with you.
Ernestine Lipscomb
Founding attorney
Why a clinic
A claim shouldn't begin with a form you can't read
The first notice comes in the mail. It has a deadline in small type, a list of things the agency says it never received, and a phone number that rings for an hour. Most people answer it alone, and stop when the answer is no.
Outpost is one room, three desks and a kettle on Franklin Street. A lawyer reads your notice with you, asks for the records the agency will want, and writes the claim or the appeal. The first visit takes an hour, and you leave knowing what happens next.
Veterans pay nothing for help with a VA claim. For Social Security, you pay nothing up front, and the only fee is the one Social Security sets by law, taken from back pay if you win. If there's no back pay, there's no fee. Costs such as record charges are separate, and we tell you before any is spent.
Waiting is the hardest part of a claim. You shouldn't have to wait alone.
Beside Ernestine
Three more lawyers at the same table
Each takes a different kind of claim. Whoever answers first will find the one who fits yours.
Doyle Whitsett
Staff attorney, VA claims and appeals
Doyle, an Army veteran, takes VA compensation claims and appeals and prepares veterans for their exams.
Truett Stroud
Staff attorney, appeals and federal court
Truett takes appeals after a denial, from reconsideration through federal court, and the claims that need a second reading.
Claims we take
Start with the claim you already have
Each page says who the program is for, what the clinic does, and where claims tend to stall.
Social Security disability
You worked, paid in, and a condition now keeps you from working. Back pay can be owed from the day Social Security finds you stopped.
About SSDI
Supplemental Security Income
Monthly help for adults and children with a disability and very little income. It doesn't depend on a work history.
About SSI
VA disability compensation
A monthly payment for a condition your service caused or made worse. The rating decides the amount.
About VA claims
After a denial
Social Security and the VA each set a deadline and more than one road. The notice you received says which.
About appeals