How It Works
Enrollment opens shortly.
VA Claim Mentor provides self-paced education only. It does not provide individual claim review or representation, and results are not guaranteed. Free accredited assistance is available through a VSO .
Every session included. You get all of it
Access valid for one year from date of purchase
Instant online access. Right after payment, we email you a link to set your password, then you watch in your browser.
No back-pay percentage, ever
What you're paying for, and what you're not.
The Guide gives you a fast, clear way to actually understand your claim: how the system works, how to organize your own account of your service, how to prepare for your C&P exam, how to read your decision letter, what most veterans miss. It's built from real cases and the mistakes that actually cost veterans their claims. You should also know: accredited Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) file claims for free, and you're always welcome to use one instead of, or alongside, the Guide. VA Claim Mentor teaches you the process — it doesn't review your specific paperwork or file anything on your behalf, so for hands-on filing help, a VSO or accredited agent is who to see.
What VA Claim Mentor is not
Free, VA-accredited help is available through a Veterans Service Organization — find one near you (opens in a new tab) .
Why a retired Lieutenant Colonel built this guide.
His service, his evidence, and VA's decisions on his claims are not average, typical, or guaranteed, and nothing on this page predicts what will happen with yours.
Nobody buys a $350 guide sight-unseen.
You get all of it. Pick where you are today above to see where you'd start. Every session is included, in this order.
Session 1 · Start Here — Welcome from Lou
Then Session 2 · Have You Actually Looked?
Session 1 · Start Here — Welcome from Lou
Then Session 12 · While You Wait
Then Session 6 · Completing Your 5 W's
Session 1 · Start Here — Welcome from Lou
Then Session 10 · Decoding Your Decision Letter
1 · Start Here — Welcome from Lou
2 · Have You Actually Looked?
3 · Eligibility and How the System Works
4 · Your VA.gov Account & ID.me
5 · Intent to File, and Finding Your Way Back
6 · Completing Your 5 W's: the centerpiece of the entire guide
7 · The Nexus Letter
8 · Filing Your Claim
9 · The C&P Exam
10 · Decoding Your Decision Letter
11 · Honest Expectations
12 · While You Wait
About an hour of guided video, plus the 5 W's Worksheet and Evidence Checklist. Every session captioned, with a full transcript in your account.
Both worksheets come with the guide as fillable Word documents (.docx) you download and complete on your own device, plus a practice version on screen in your account. Nothing you type on screen is saved — the file you fill out is yours and stays with you.
Your story, checked three ways: by you, with AI, on your own device.
AI is a tool here, not the author. The Guide puts it to work at three moments, and only three: organizing and pressure-testing the story you already wrote yourself, translating a VA decision letter out of VA language and into plain English, and auditing your complete package one last time before you ever hit submit. You write your 5 W's in your own words, no AI. The exact working prompts live inside your account, walked through on camera by Lou. Your records, your worksheet, your results: yours alone, start to finish. Nothing you build here is ever seen or reviewed by Lou or VA Claim Mentor.
I already get VA healthcare, doesn't that mean I have a disability rating?
No, and this surprises more veterans than anything else we teach. VA healthcare and VA disability compensation are completely separate systems. Getting treated is not the same as getting rated; only a claim you file starts the compensation process. The guide also covers why the order you approach the two systems in can matter, and what that means for you.
Do I need a nexus letter?
A nexus letter is a qualified provider's written opinion connecting a condition to your service. Not every claim needs one. The guide covers how to tell whether yours does, and how to approach a provider if it does. The opinion is always the provider's own. Lou never writes or reviews anyone's letter.
A VSO files claims for free. If that fits you, use them.
The VFW, DAV, American Legion, and your county veterans office are free and accredited. For a straightforward claim with a VSO who has time for you, that's the right call, and I'd rather tell you that than take $350 you didn't need to spend.
Learn the process yourself, and a representative's time goes further if you use one.
What you're paying me for is teaching, on your schedule. You can sit with the why behind good evidence and watch it again at midnight if that is when you have the time. Flat $350, once. No percentage of your award, no subscription.
The organizations named above are referenced for informational purposes only and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse, VA Claim Mentor.
VA Claim Mentor is not a substitute for an attorney.
Here is what the Guide does. You will be able to put your service and your health history on one timeline and see where they meet. You will be able to tell whether a record actually shows what you need it to show, walk into your C&P exam knowing what the examiner is reading for, and go through your decision letter line by line instead of just the number at the bottom. On a lot of claims that is the whole problem. Where it isn't enough, you'll know that too, and you'll know what to ask a lawyer.
When to consider a lawyer
For appeals or complex cases, a VA-accredited attorney or agent can help.
Start with the free, accredited help that already exists: Veterans Service Organizations, your state or county veterans office, and law school veterans clinics. These people are accredited by the VA, they do this every day, and they don't charge you anything. And for an initial claim, nobody can charge you a fee — federal law prohibits it. If someone wants a percentage to file your first claim, walk away.
Work those options first, and learn the process yourself while you do. Understanding your own claim is what lets you tell whether it's being handled well. Plenty of veterans who take that route never need to hire anyone.
If you've worked through all of that and still need representation, look for pro bono before you look for paid. Law school veterans clinics, bar association pro bono programs, and some nonprofit legal groups take VA cases at no cost. Ask, every time, before you agree to hand over a percentage of your back pay.
One thing that isn't negotiable: don't let this drag on so long that you miss a deadline. The appeals process has real time limits, and losing your window costs more than any fee ever would. If you're up against a date, get help — whatever kind you can get.
Refund policy
Refunds: request in writing to office@loujswz.com within of the time your purchase completed, however much you've watched.
Full terms are on the Legal page.
What you get, plainly
A clear, step-by-step method for documenting your own claim, built around the 5 W's, the method at the center of the guide. You'll learn what the VA is actually looking at, what strong documentation looks like, and how to describe your own situation accurately and completely.
The point is that you can speak for your own claim and stay in control of it — whether you file on your own, or hand a representative a well-organized file.
Access to every session, worksheet, and checklist for one year from date of purchase, plus any updates released during that access term at no extra charge. No upsells inside. No recurring anything.
NAME
Louis Schwartz
RANK / STATUS
LTC (Ret.), U.S. Army
YEARS OF SERVICE
23 years
COMMISSIONING
The Citadel — Charleston, SC
CORPS
Medical Service Corps Officer
TRAINING
Medical records & administration
Ready to build it right, from wherever you're starting?
Enrollment opens shortly.
VA Claim Mentor provides self-paced education only. It does not provide individual claim review or representation, and results are not guaranteed. Free accredited assistance is available through a VSO .