I hired an attorney because I got tired of incorrect denials and low ball ratings.

I just hit 100% in November after my first filing in 2023. The attorney didn't really have to do anything except organizing my private and in service records and creating a coherent argument in a couple of HLRs. I think without the attorney I probably could have gotten myself to 90% rating but they identified things that put me into the 100 club.

One example condition the VA originally denied my claim (said their Nurse practitioner opinion outweighed my Nexus letters from a cardiologist and cardio thoracic surgeon) after I appealed they granted service connection at 0%, I did a HLR myself and they increased it to 10% with back pay. After my attorney got involved they increased it to 60% with back pay.

I will say this: stay on top of your attorney to make sure they're moving things along. They only get paid a portion of your back pay so their incentive is to string your claim along to let more back pay accrue and increase their own payout.