About Borne Accredited Claims
We are an accredited VA claims agent helping veterans and their families secure the disability benefits they earned through service — with a focus on appeals and the errors that cost veterans their rightful pay.
Our name
Our name comes from Abraham Lincoln's promise — "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan." That promise is the standard we hold ourselves to. We carry it forward in every claim we represent.
"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan."
— Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865
Who's behind the work
Every claim we represent is handled by Blake Leitch, an accredited VA claims agent (accreditation #60720, POA code KWU) accredited under 38 CFR §14.629. That accreditation means we are authorized by the VA's Office of General Counsel to prepare, present, and prosecute claims for veterans before the VA — and we're held to the standards that come with it.
Blake served with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He has spent the years since on every side of the VA claims process: as a Veterans Service Officer with the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs in Coles County, inside the Veterans Benefits Administration, and at a VA disability law firm.
That matters for one specific reason. Having worked on the adjudication side, he has seen how decisions actually get made — what a rater reads first, what an examiner's wording does to a rating, and where claims quietly fall apart. Most of the denials we overturn were not close calls. They were errors that are obvious once you know where to look.
Outside the practice, he founded the Coles County Veterans Support Coalition, helped establish the Student Veterans of America chapter at Lake Land College, is a VFW Life Member, and served as State Student Liaison for the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Verify our accreditation on the VA OGC site
What we do
We specialize in appeals — the work of fixing decisions the VA got wrong. That includes the three Appeals Modernization Act lanes (Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claims, and Board Appeals), Clear and Unmistakable Error claims to recover retroactive pay, TDIU claims, and survivor benefits like DIC.
Accredited
VA-accredited under 38 CFR §14.629 — verifiable on the VA OGC site.
Secure
BAA-aligned document storage and encrypted client messaging.
A promise kept
We never charge a fee to widows or orphans — ever.
What we are not
We are not part of, or endorsed by, the Department of Veterans Affairs. We do not guarantee any specific outcome on any claim. The information on this site is educational and is not legal advice — always confirm details with the official source or your accredited claims agent.
Ready to work with us?
Send us your decision letter and we'll tell you honestly whether there's an argument — including when there isn't, and when a free VSO is the better answer.
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