The road to winning disability benefits after they have been denied by the VA is often complex and difficult to successfully navigate. If you are a Veteran with a service-connected disability, your best path forward is to have an experienced and successful advocate on your side who will fight for your rights. Stephani Bennett, a Veterans Benefits Attorney at Cuddigan Law, has been winning benefits for our nation’s Veterans since 2016 with success at all levels of appeal. She even set a precedent at the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims that changed how all Veterans with Parkinson’s disease are rated.
Stephani served in the Air Force as an Airborne Cryptologic Linguist and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law. The best part of her job, she says, “is the feeling that I have measurably changed a Veteran’s life for the better. If I increase someone’s disability rating, that monthly payment helps them live a better life from that day forward.” She recalls how one of her mentors told her ‘We do what we say we’re going to do.’ “It’s an awkward-sounding phrase and a bit clunky, but it sticks with you,” she says. “It keeps you from cutting corners or forgetting to follow up with people. I want to be the lawyer who never drops the ball on keeping promises.”
When asked about her interests outside of the office, she will tell you she is passionate about hockey. “I’m pretty even keeled, until the Blackhawks are playing,” she confesses with a smile. Ms. Bennett and her husband, Patrick who is still on active duty in the military, don’t just like watching hockey, they love to play the sport, as well. The two of them run a beer league team with their friends called the Salty Dogs. “The team logo is based on our white German Shepherd, and my husband designed it,” she says.
In addition to hockey, Stephani stays busy walking the couple’s dogs, writing, going to the gym, cooking, and playing video games. Her love of animals carries over to her support of the not-for profit Hands, Heart, and Paws Animal Rescue.