No, not quite. What we do is we work up a case with the client that the client is happy with. The decision on whether or not to proceed rests solely with the client.
What will happen is this. When the department renders its decision on the first application, at the bottom of the letter explaining the reasons why you may not have been granted a pension or disability, it says that you have the right to appeal this decision to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and you have the right to consult a lawyer in doing so. Very often what happens is that people will call not because they're pounding-on-the-table upset that they didn't get what they were hoping to get, but because they're seeing this as a free second opinion from a lawyer who works for them.
When we receive the file, we review the file and the medical reports and we review the department's decision. Then we get together with the client and we explain our view. We tell them either that it's a great case to go forward with or that we think the department got it right, and there's not much to appeal. At that point, the client then makes a decision. They'll either take our advice and not bother, or they'll say, “You know what? I don't care. I want you to proceed.” And we will proceed.