Battle Tested Virginia lawyer helps veterans navigate complexities of the VA By Tom Kirvan
I
t has been said, by Mahatma Ghandi no less, that “to lose patience is to lose the battle.”
The saying reflects legal words to live by for attorney Nancy Foti, a partner in the Veterans Benefit Group at Goodman Allen Donnelly in Virginia, whose patience is tested daily as she juggles a caseload that regularly tops 200 at any given time. “We have to display a lot of stamina and determination to see most cases to a successful conclusion,” said Foti, who has devoted her entire legal career to veterans’ benefits law. “We have a number
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of cases that date back to the Vietnam War era and the effects of Agent Orange, which is still very much a thing that we are dealing with on behalf of some of our clients.” Foti, who earned her law degree from Brigham Young University in 2000, joined the firm’s Veterans Benefit Group in 2004 after spending two years as a law clerk to Judge Ronald Holdaway of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims followed by a two-year stint as a staff attorney with the National Veterans Legal Services Program. “Judge Holdaway, who was a one-star [brigadier] general in the Army before T H E P R I M E R U S P A R A D I G M™
becoming a judge, helped develop my interest in the field of veterans law and taught me a lot about its intricacies,” said Foti, who received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. “It was an eye-opening experience to see all the issues that could arise on appeal from a denial of a claim. Then, working at the National Veterans Legal Services Program really demonstrated how important the need is to help vets receive the benefits to which they are entitled.” Goodman Allen – which is headquartered in the state capital of Richmond with offices also in Norfolk and Charlottesville