WHEN WILL YOU BE PROVIDED MILITARY COUNSEL PRIOR TO AN FPEB OR FPEB APPEAL?

While I have honestly not met an incompetent or “bad” military counsel in 30 years of representing service members in the PEB process, the downside to working the military counsel is that their caseloads are much higher than civilian counsel. This gives them less time to work with you and develop your case. At the extreme, under the provisions of Section 4.5 of the new instruction- DODI1332.18, issued on November 10, 2022- the various services only require that you be afforded at least 24 hours to consult with your assigned counsel before a hearing. That is ridiculous, as this does not give you or your assigned counsel much time to work together. Usually, such a short prep period only occurs if your case has been transferred at the last minute to another attorney because your previous counsel has transferred, is ill, or is TDY. However, it does happen. For that reason, if you want to ensure that your case is thoroughly prepared, you should consider hiring civilian counsel who can afford you the time you and your family deserve.