We follow this legislation not just because of our Federal Tort Claims practice, but also because the namesake for the bill is our client, Brian Tally. We worked with Brian in the early stages of the legislation and helped him lobby legislators on Capitol Hill, but this legislation is Brian’s brainchild and he has been the driving force behind it through multiple sessions of Congress. He has been a tireless advocate for veterans and the Tally Act is now much closer to becoming law because if him.
The Brian Tally VA Employment Transparency Act would require that anyone who files a medical malpractice tort claim against the VA be informed by the VA within 30 days of whether any of the medical providers involved were independent contractors and not employees of the VA. This is vitally important information for a claimant to know, and many veterans who try to handle their own VA claims without a lawyer end up getting burned when the find out too late that they cannot bring a tort claim against a provider that turns out to have been an independent contractor. Brian’s legislation would help fix that problem so that veterans don’t find out too late after their statute of limitations has expired that they must pursue their claim against the independent contractor in state court.
Brian continues to do great work advancing his legislation through the Congress and we continue to cheer on and commend his phenomenal and selfless work on behalf of veterans everywhere.