Law firms & agents · brand review

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick review: an accredited founding partner and no marketing number

A 27-year firm whose founding partner is on VA's roster and which publishes no recovery total, no win rate and no fee — read against 38 C.F.R. § 14.636.

Sources checked Sep 4, 2026

Operator
Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD of Providence, Rhode Island. BBB records it as started and incorporated 19 January 1999 — 27 years — with Robert Chisholm as Founding Partner.Source: Better Business Bureau — Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD profile (Providence, RI) · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Model
Accredited representation on VA disability appeals, alongside a separate ERISA and long-term disability practice.Source: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick — home page · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Advertised price
Not published — source required
Needs: the firm's own fee agreement, which sets the contingency percentage for your case — no percentage appears anywhere on the site
Payment plan
Not applicable in the ordinary case. A contingency fee capped at 20% of past-due benefits may be withheld by VA from the award and paid directly to the attorney.Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
VA-accredited
YesSource: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Can represent you
YesSource: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026

Public sources checked Sep 4, 2026. Terms change; check them before you sign anything.

VeteranAI is our product, so this review is not neutral. Every fact on the page links to the document it came from and the date we read it. Judge the sources, not us.

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick can represent you before VA, and its founding partner is on the accreditation roster: an attorney search for "Chisholm" returns "Chisholm, Robert V · Providence · RI · 02903", matching the city and state BBB lists for the firm and the founding partner BBB names. That accreditation is what makes 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 apply — up to 20% of past-due benefits presumed reasonable, more than 33⅓% presumed unreasonable, and no fee permitted for preparing an initial claim.

The firm is unusual in this index for what it does not publish. There is no aggregate "benefits recovered" figure, no case count, and no success rate anywhere on its home page — where every other firm and consultant here leads with at least one. That is worth recording as a finding rather than a gap: an absent marketing number is one fewer number a veteran has to learn to discount. What the site leads with instead is tools — a disability calculator, a back pay calculator, a claims and appeals interactive tool, burn pit and Agent Orange location maps, and a claim builder.

It also publishes no fee. Like every firm in this category, the contingency percentage is set in an individual agreement rather than on a website, so the price cells below name that document. BBB rates the firm A+ and records it as accredited with BBB since 2017 and in business since 1999. An accredited VSO will represent you for $0, and at the initial-claim stage no attorney may charge you at all.

VeteranAI is our product, so this review is not neutral. Every fact on the page links to the document it came from and the date we read it. Judge the sources, not us.

What we did not do
  • We did not retain the firm.
  • We did not read a signed fee agreement, which is where the contingency percentage is set.
  • We did not contact staff.
  • We did not read the firm's FAQ, testimonials or practice-area sub-pages in detail; the findings below come from the home page, BBB and the OGC roster.
  • We did not review any individual case outcome.
03 · TL;DR

The short version

04 · The company

What Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick actually is

05 · Fees

What it costs, from the documents

This firm publishes no fee, which is normal in this category — the percentage is set per case in an agreement VA can review. Every price cell below therefore names the document you need rather than a number we could read.

ItemAmount, from the company's own documents
Contingency percentage of past-due benefitsNot published — source required
Needs: the firm's own fee agreement, which sets the contingency percentage for your case — no percentage appears anywhere on the site
Presumed reasonable by VA
Up to 20% of past-due benefits, where representation continued through the award decisionSource: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
Presumed unreasonable by VA
More than 33⅓% of past-due benefitsSource: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
Fee for preparing an initial claim
None permitted for an accredited representativeSource: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
Case expensesNot published — source required
Needs: an itemised schedule of chargeable case expenses, and a statement of who pays them if the claim is lost
What happens if you loseNot published — source required
Needs: the firm's own fee agreement, which sets the contingency percentage for your case — no percentage appears anywhere on the site
Stages covered by one engagementNot published — source required
Needs: a written statement of what stages the engagement covers — the site's veterans practice is framed around appeals, but no page says where an engagement starts and stops
Worked examples
06 · Expenses

Case expenses, separate from the fee

  • No case-expense schedule is published. The home page carries no statement about expenses at all — not what they are, not who advances them, and not who bears them on a loss.

    Source: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick — home page · Verified Sep 4, 2026

  • Under VA's rules expenses are distinct from fees and handled separately, so a contingency percentage does not necessarily cover them. This is the question to ask in writing.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026

  • The expenses that arise in these cases are predictable enough to price in advance: records retrieval, independent medical opinions, and expert reports. An independent medical opinion alone can run to four figures, as the medical evidence reviews in this index show.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
07 · Direct pay

Direct payment and VA's fee rules

  • "Fees which do not exceed 20 percent of any past-due benefits awarded as defined in paragraph (h)(3) of this section shall be presumed to be reasonable if the agent or attorney provided representation that continued through the date of the decision awarding benefits."

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026

  • "Fees which exceed 33⅓ percent of any past-due benefits awarded shall be presumed to be unreasonable." A fee between the two presumptions is neither automatically allowed nor barred; it has to be justified.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026

  • Because the firm publishes no percentage, which end of that range it works at is unknowable before the consultation. Ask for the figure and the justification together.

    Source: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick — home page · Verified Sep 4, 2026

  • No accredited representative may charge for preparing an initial claim. If your matter is an initial claim, a fee agreement should not arise.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
08 · Marketing numbers

The firm's recovery claim

09 · Representation

Scope, remands, and who signs

  • The practice is framed around appeals rather than initial claims, which matches the fee rules: an accredited attorney may only be paid after a decision.

    Source: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick — home page · Verified Sep 4, 2026

  • Representation begins with an appointment on VA Form 21-22a and a separate fee agreement — two documents, only one of which costs you anything.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026

  • The 20% presumption applies where representation "continued through the date of the decision awarding benefits." If representation ends earlier, that condition is not met; ask what fee is claimed in that event.

    Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026

  • Nothing published says whether a remand, a supplemental claim or a further appeal is inside the same engagement. Because these cases routinely run through more than one stage, put it in the agreement.

    Source: Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick — home page · Verified Sep 4, 2026
10 · Accreditation

Verify the attorney, not the firm

11 · Privacy

Your records: who holds them, for how long

12 · Legal record

Public record, dated and graded

None found

We searched the sources below and found no VA warning letter, state action, or court record naming this company. Absence in what we searched is not proof of absence.

Source: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026
How to read this list

A VA warning letter is a notice, not a court judgment. Class certification means a court let a case proceed as a group; it is not a finding on any allegation. A filed civil suit is one party's allegations and nothing more until a court rules on them. A partial summary judgment is a court's ruling on one question, on facts neither side disputes; it decides that question and leaves the rest of the case, including any remedy, open. A Chapter 11 filing is a reorganization, not proof that a service was unlawful. An agreed judgment is a final court order on terms both sides accepted. A company's win is listed here the same way as a loss.

13 · What veterans say

Review platforms, weighed against each other

Platforms disagree with each other, so they are listed side by side with their sample sizes rather than averaged.

14 · Fit

Who it fits, and who should choose another route

May be a good fit if
  • You have been denied and are appealing — the stage this practice is built around and the only one at which an attorney may charge.
  • You want the person on your case findable on VA's roster and bound by fee rules VA can review.
  • You are suspicious of marketing numbers. This firm publishes none, which means there is nothing here to discount.
  • Your matter spans VA disability and long-term disability insurance, which the firm handles as a separate practice.
Choose another route if
  • You are filing an initial claim. No accredited representative may charge for that; an accredited VSO will do it for $0.
  • You want any published indication of results before you call. There is none — no recovery total, no case count, no success rate.
  • You want the fee and expenses settled before engaging. Neither is published, so both have to come out of the agreement.
  • You want a firm that only does VA work. This one runs a substantial ERISA practice alongside it — ask who will handle yours.
15 · Comparison

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick, an accredited VSO, and VeteranAI

Chisholm Chisholm & KilpatrickAccredited VSO · $0VeteranAI
What it is
A law firm, in practice since 1999, representing veterans on VA disability appeals alongside an ERISA and long-term disability practice.Source: Better Business Bureau — Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD profile (Providence, RI) · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Accredited representation. A VSO officer files, argues, and appeals for you.Software. Reads your C-file and decision letters and drafts statements you edit and file yourself.
Fee modelNot published — source required
Needs: the firm's own fee agreement, which sets the contingency percentage for your case — no percentage appears anywhere on the site		$0. No fee, no percentage, ever.Published subscription. $25/mo · $250/yr for Pro; Pro is $25/month or $250/year. Max 3× is $49/month or $499/year. Max 5× is $99/month or $999/year.
Tied to your back pay
Yes, by design and by regulation — a contingency on past-due benefits, which VA presumes reasonable up to 20%.Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
No.No. The same price whether the claim is granted or denied.
CancelNot published — source required
Needs: the firm's own fee agreement, which sets the contingency percentage for your case — no percentage appears anywhere on the site		Revoke the appointment at any time by filing a new VA Form 21-22.In-app, any time. Billing stops at the end of the period you paid for.
Files on your behalf
Yes. An accredited attorney appointed on VA Form 21-22a is your representative of record.Source: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Yes. Your representative of record.No. You file, or your accredited representative does.
VA-accredited
Yes. "Chisholm, Robert V · Providence · RI · 02903" appears on the OGC attorney roster.Source: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Yes.No. We are not accredited and not your representative; verify at https://www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation/index.asp.
Signed medical opinion
No. A law firm argues the claim; a clinician signs an opinion, and that opinion is a case expense.Source: 38 C.F.R. § 14.636 — Payment of fees for representation · Verified Sep 3, 2026
No. A VSO helps you gather evidence; a clinician signs an opinion.No. We draft a nexus letter from your records and the medical literature for your own clinician to review, edit, and sign.
Regulatory history
None found. The firm is not on The War Horse's list of companies VA's Office of General Counsel wrote to, and the accreditation is current.Source: VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation search · Verified Sep 4, 2026
Accreditation is granted and can be revoked by VA's Office of General Counsel.No VA warning letters and no state actions on record.

VeteranAI is a different category from the company reviewed here. The column is included so the three options a veteran actually weighs sit on one line, not to suggest we do what they do.

16 · Questions

10 questions to ask before paying

Bring these to the call
  1. Which accredited attorney will handle my case, and what is their accreditation number?
  2. Is that attorney accredited for VA work specifically, or do they mainly practise ERISA?
  3. What percentage of past-due benefits is your fee? Put it in the agreement before I sign.
  4. If the percentage is above 20%, what is the specific justification?
  5. Give me an itemised list of chargeable case expenses. Who pays them if we lose?
  6. Is my matter an initial claim? If so, why is a fee agreement being discussed?
  7. Of clients with a claim like mine, in the last year, how many were granted, and what was the median past-due award?
  8. If my case is remanded or needs a supplemental claim, is that inside this agreement or a new one?
  9. If I change representatives before the decision, what fee do you claim and on what basis?
  10. Have you told me, unprompted, that an accredited VSO would represent me for $0?
17 · Bottom line

Where this leaves you

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick is an accredited firm of 27 years' standing whose founding partner we found on VA's roster at the firm's own city. In a category where the accreditation check is the whole point, it passes — and its fee, whatever it is, is governed by a regulation VA can enforce rather than by a contract only you are bound to read.

The distinguishing feature is a negative one, and it is to the firm's credit: it publishes no recovery total, no case count and no success rate. Every other company reviewed on this site leads with a cumulative figure, and cumulative figures are the ones that most reliably mislead. The cost of that restraint is that you have less to go on before the call — so ask for the narrow number that actually bears on your case, and ask for the fee and the expenses in the same conversation.

An accredited VSO will represent you for $0 and can do everything a firm can at the initial-claim stage, where no attorney may charge you anyway. If you want your own record read before you take it to anyone, ours is a published subscription — Pro is $25/month or $250/year. Max 3× is $49/month or $499/year. Max 5× is $99/month or $999/year. No percentage of back pay, and the same price whether the claim is granted or denied.

18 · Sources

Sources and limitations

Federal regulation and VA
The company's own pages
Better Business Bureau
What we did not review
  • No signed fee agreement, and no contingency percentage published anywhere on the site.
  • No case-expense schedule; none is published.
  • Our reading of this firm covers its home page, its BBB profile and the OGC roster. We did not work through its FAQ, testimonials or practice-area sub-pages, so a fee or scope statement may exist deeper in the site than we read.
  • No review-platform figures. BBB published no customer review count or complaint count on this profile on the day we checked, and we did not substitute another platform's numbers.
  • We did not review the firm's privacy policy or what its interactive claim tools collect.
  • We reviewed no individual case outcome and make no claim about the quality of the representation.

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Read your own file before you pay anyone to read it for you

A published price, no percentage of anything, cancel whenever. And an accredited VSO will still represent you for $0 — find one near you.

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