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What is Hill & Ponton?
Hill & Ponton is a nationwide veterans disability law firm that represents veterans in VA disability claims and appeals. Its core promise is legal advocacy: rather than guiding you through the process alone, the firm steps in to fight unfavorable VA decisions and pursue the benefits you are owed. The site presents the firm as a “compassionate ally, an expert advocate and a relentless champion” for veterans, and it emphasizes a contingency arrangement — “no fee unless we win.”
What the firm offers
- VA appeals and disability representation. The practice centers on Veterans Law, VA Appeals, and VA Disability Law, with a free case evaluation as the entry point.
- PACT Act support. There is a dedicated PACT Act tool that uses your dates of service and conditions to help determine eligibility, plus a Herbicide Presumptive Timeline and maps of toxic-exposure locations.
- Ratings and compensation tools. A 2026 VA Disability Calculator, an Unemployability Rating Calculator, a Backpay Estimator, and a Hearing Disability Calculator help you estimate combined ratings and potential compensation.
- Guides and resources. Ratings and pay schedules, a PTSD guide, a Special Monthly Compensation guide, a VA Unemployability guide, and a DBQ resource are available, along with a monthly newsletter.
Track record and reach
The site highlights 40 years of winning benefits for veterans, 30,000 veterans fought for, and $400 million in benefits recovered for clients. It also states that the firm helps veterans nationwide, so geography is not a barrier to representation.
Who it is for
This is a good fit if you have already been denied or received a lower rating than expected, if your claim involves toxic exposure under the PACT Act, or if you want an attorney to handle the appeal rather than navigating it yourself. If your claim is straightforward and already granted, the calculators and guides may be more useful than full representation.
A practical next step
Before contacting the firm, gather your VA decision letter, your current rating, and your service and exposure history. Then use the PACT Act tool or the disability calculator to see where you stand, and request the free case evaluation to discuss whether an appeal makes sense. You can also compare the firm’s public resources with the VA’s own guidance at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
How do I appeal an unfavorable VA disability decision?
To appeal an unfavorable VA disability decision, you generally have three routes: a supplemental claim (new and relevant evidence), a higher-level review (a fresh look by a senior reviewer, no new evidence), or a Board of Veterans' Appeals appeal (a veterans law judge). The right choice depends on why the decision went against you and how quickly you need a resolution.
Matching the appeal to your situation
| Situation | Likely path | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| You have new medical evidence or a missed record | Supplemental claim | Often fastest; requires genuinely new evidence |
| You believe the rater misapplied the law or overlooked existing evidence | Higher-level review | No new evidence allowed; a senior reviewer re-decides |
| You want a judge to decide, or the regional office keeps denying | Board appeal | Longest wait, but the most formal review |
How a law firm fits in
Hill & Ponton presents itself as a nationwide veterans disability firm handling appeals of unfavorable VA decisions, with page claims of 40 years of practice, 30,000 veterans represented, and $400 million in benefits recovered, plus a no-fee-unless-we-win arrangement. Treat those figures as the firm's own marketing. The practical value of representation is usually strongest at the Board level and in cases involving complex ratings, unemployability, or PACT Act presumptives.
A concrete next step
Gather your decision letter and note the date it was issued, since appeal deadlines are strict. Then decide whether you can supply new evidence. If you can, a supplemental claim is often the sensible first move; if the problem is legal error, a higher-level review or Board appeal may fit better. For PACT Act-related conditions, the firm offers an eligibility questionnaire tool, and its site also hosts a combined disability calculator and a Blue Water Navy ship map.
For independent context on the process, see U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Advocate.
How is my combined VA disability rating calculated?
VA disability ratings are not added together. The VA combines them using "whole person" math: each rating is applied to the percentage of you that is still considered able-bodied, not to 100%. If you have a 50% rating, you are considered 50% disabled and 50% not disabled. A second 30% rating applies to that remaining 50%, adding 15 points, for a combined 65%. The VA then rounds to the nearest 10%, making the final combined rating 70%.
The order matters less than you think
The VA processes ratings from highest to lowest, but the result is the same regardless of order. What changes the outcome is the number and size of your ratings. Several moderate ratings can produce a higher combined total than one large rating plus small ones, which is why a 70% and a 40% do not simply equal 110%.
Where the math gets more complicated
The combined rating is only the starting point. The VA may add or adjust for dependents, individual unemployability, special monthly compensation, and other factors. The Hill & Ponton site includes a 2026 VA disability calculator and an unemployability rating calculator among its tools, which can be useful for estimating a combined rating and seeing how it affects compensation. For a quick estimate, use a calculator; for a decision that affects your claim, confirm the result against your actual rating decisions.
A practical example
Suppose your ratings are 50%, 30%, and 10%. Start with 50%: you have 50% remaining. The 30% applies to that 50%, adding 15%, for 65% and 35% remaining. The 10% applies to 35%, adding 3.5%, for 68.5%. Rounded to the nearest 10%, the combined rating is 70%. If you then add a 20% rating, it applies to the remaining 31.5%, adding 6.3%, for 74.8%, which rounds to 70% — not 80%. That is the trade-off: small ratings often do not move the final number until the unrounded total crosses a rounding threshold.
What to do next
If you are checking a proposed or existing rating, gather your decision letters and list every service-connected disability with its percentage. Run the numbers in order from highest to lowest, then check whether the unrounded total is close to the next 10% boundary. If it is, a successful appeal or a new claim for even a small rating could change your combined percentage.
For a deeper explanation of combined ratings, pay schedules, and appeals, the VA's own materials and established veterans law firms such as Hill & Ponton publish guides and calculators. Other reliable resources include U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for official rating and compensation information, and Veterans Law Blog for plain-language explanations of how ratings and appeals work.
What is the PACT Act and how do I know if I qualify for benefits?
The PACT Act is a federal law that expanded VA health care and disability benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. Qualifying hinges on three things: your dates and locations of service, the toxic exposure involved, and whether you have a condition the VA links to that exposure. The site frames this as a presumptive-eligibility question and offers a questionnaire that uses your service dates and conditions to estimate whether you qualify, plus a timeline of herbicide presumptions and maps of exposure locations.
How to think through your own eligibility
- Pin down where and when you served. Exposure rules are tied to specific places and periods — Vietnam and its inland waterways, the Korean DMZ, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Guam, Okinawa, Gulf War areas, and post-9/11 burn pit sites in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Match your condition to the presumptive list. If your diagnosis appears on the VA's presumptive conditions for that exposure, you generally don't have to prove the exposure caused it.
- Gather your evidence either way. Even with a presumption, service records, deployment orders and medical records still support a clean claim.
- File or appeal. The site's focus is appealing unfavorable decisions, so it is most relevant if you have already been denied or rated too low.
A reader scenario: a veteran who served at a burn pit site and now has a respiratory diagnosis would start with the exposure maps and presumptive timeline, then use the PACT Act tool to check eligibility before filing.
Where this site fits
Hill & Ponton is a veterans disability law firm, not the VA itself. Its useful free material sits in its guides, calculators, exposure maps and the PACT Act questionnaire, and its paid service is representation in appeals on a no-fee-unless-we-win basis. For authoritative eligibility rules, the VA's own pages are the primary source; for independent claim help, organizations such as U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and accredited veterans service organizations are worth consulting alongside a law firm.
How much does it cost to hire a VA disability lawyer?
VA disability lawyers generally work on a contingency-fee basis for appeals, and the fee is capped by law. For most VA appeals, an accredited attorney or agent cannot charge a fee until after the VA has issued a decision on the claim, and the fee is limited to 20% of any past-due (retroactive) benefits awarded. If you win, the fee comes out of that back pay; if you lose, you typically owe nothing. This is why Hill & Ponton states "no fee unless we win" Hill & Ponton.
What drives the cost
- Contingency percentage: The 20% cap applies to retroactive benefits, not to your future monthly payments.
- When fees can start: Fees are generally barred until after an initial decision, so representation at the initial claim stage is often free or low-cost through accredited representatives, VSOs, or attorneys who defer fees.
- Out-of-pocket expenses: Some firms may seek reimbursement for medical records, expert opinions, or travel; ask whether these are deducted from your award or billed separately.
- Multiple representatives: If you switch representatives, prior fees may still be owed from the eventual award, reducing your net recovery.
A practical comparison
| Situation | Typical fee structure | What you pay if you lose |
|---|---|---|
| Initial VA claim | Often no fee (VSO or attorney deferring fees) | $0 |
| VA appeal after a decision | 20% of retroactive benefits | $0 |
| Federal court appeal | 20% of retroactive benefits, sometimes with expense reimbursement | $0, unless expenses were agreed |
Next step
Before signing, ask the attorney three questions: (1) Do you charge only the 20% contingency, or are there separate expenses? (2) At what stage does your fee obligation begin? (3) If I switch to another representative, how are fees divided? You can verify accreditation and fee rules through the VA's Office of General Counsel, and compare options such as VA.gov for official guidance, or Veterans Law for accredited attorney directories.
How do I check if my ship or military base qualifies for toxic exposure benefits?
Start with the two official lists rather than with a law firm's marketing page. The VA publishes the presumptive conditions and the locations tied to them, and those lists change as the PACT Act is implemented. Hill & Ponton's own site is useful here mainly as a navigational shortcut: it hosts a Blue Water Navy ship map, a military base toxic exposure drone map, and a PACT Act eligibility tool, alongside its core veterans disability practice.
Check the ship first
If you served aboard a ship, the question is usually whether it operated inside the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam, or whether it was otherwise exposed—for example, by docking, anchoring, or transferring supplies in contaminated areas. The firm's page describes its Blue Water Navy map as a way to see whether a specific ship met that geographic test. Use it as a starting point, then confirm the ship's status against the VA's own list before filing.
Check the base or region
For land-based service, the relevant question is not just "was I at this base" but "did I serve there during the qualifying period, and do I have a condition on the presumptive list?" The site's maps cover locations such as Fort McClellan, Camp Lejeune, and herbicide locations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, Korea, Okinawa, and Thailand, plus burn pit exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Gulf War. These maps are a screening aid; the VA's presumptive conditions page is the authority.
A practical sequence
- Write down your dates of service, every duty station and ship, and your current diagnoses.
- Match each location against the VA's presumptive exposure list for that period.
- Match each diagnosis against the corresponding presumptive condition list.
- If both match, file or reopen the claim and cite the specific presumption.
- If only one matches, or the evidence is ambiguous, get a copy of your service records and consider a free case evaluation—Hill & Ponton offers one, and its page states it charges no fee unless it wins.
Where a lawyer helps
The straightforward cases—documented location plus a listed condition—often do not need representation. Representation earns its keep when the location is disputed, when the condition is not on the list but is medically linked to exposure, or when a claim has already been denied and needs a supplemental claim, Higher-Level Review, or Board appeal. For general reference beyond the firm's own tools, the VA's disability compensation pages and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are the primary sources; VetFriends and similar communities can help you reconstruct a ship's movements or a unit's history when your own records are thin.
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