Military Recoupment Defense Attorney If the military is seeking to recoup your education or scholarship funds after an early separation, my office represents service members and former service members from every branch in recoupment and related debt matters nationwide. Recoupment is the government’s effort to recover the cost of a benefit – HPSP tuition, an ROTC or service academy scholarship, tuition assistance, or a bonus – when the service obligation tied to it was not fully served. A demand can reach tens of thousands of dollars, and it often arrives months after a separation you thought was already behind you.These cases rarely turn on whether you owe the money on paper. They turn on whether the Secretary of your service branch should waive or reduce the debt, and that decision rests heavily on how your circumstances are documented and framed. I am a retired Army Judge Advocate Colonel, and recoupment defense sits squarely within my practice. If you are facing it, or expect to once your separation is final, call my office at 214-363-1828 and I will tell you honestly what your options look like. What Is Military Recoupment?Recoupment is how the military recovers the money it spent on your education or training when the service commitment you agreed to was not completed. Accept a scholarship, attend a service academy, use tuition assistance, or take a bonus, and you incur a service obligation measured in years. Leave before you satisfy it, and under the Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation, recoupment is the default outcome, prorated against the portion left unserved. What matters most for your case is the waiver authority: the Secretary of your service branch can waive or reduce the debt when collecting it would be contrary to equity, good conscience, or the best interest of the United States. Recoupment also rides alongside other actions, surfacing when an unqualified resignation or a military medical officer resignation is approved, so I handle the debt and the separation together. About My Recoupment PracticeI am William C. Meili, Attorney and Counselor at Law, COL(R), JA, USAR. I served as a Judge Advocate on active duty and in the Reserve, later as a felony prosecutor with the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, and my practice is concentrated on officer separations and the debt questions that follow them. Recoupment sits at the intersection of two systems most attorneys handle only one side of: military personnel law and federal debt collection. I have worked both for decades and deal regularly with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, where these debts are assessed and collected. My approach is grounded in honesty – a waiver is never guaranteed, and any attorney who tells you otherwise is not being straight with you. For more on my background, see my attorney bio page. How I Handle a Recoupment CaseI start by reading the service agreement you signed and the recoupment calculation the government is asserting, because the unserved-obligation math is a common place for errors. From there, I document the circumstances behind your separation – medical issues, dependency hardship, command failures, and the service you did complete – and connect them to the equity standard the deciding official applies. I draft the request to answer the objections a reviewing authority is likely to raise, then follow it relentlessly through every level of review, including DFAS when a debt has already posted. A favorable outcome may be a full waiver, a partial reduction, or remission of an assessed debt, and I have helped former service members cancel or settle education debts that ran into the tens of thousands of dollars. When a separation is still pending, such as a Release From Active Duty, I work the recoupment question alongside it, and I set realistic expectations about timelines from the outset. Fees and Engagement OptionsThe financial stakes in a recoupment case are real, and it is fair to want a clear sense of cost before you commit. How you engage my office depends on what your case needs. Some clients want full representation, with me handling the request and correspondence end to end; others are comfortable doing the legwork themselves and retain me for a package of consulting hours, so an experienced eye reviews their wording and timing before anything reaches a decision-maker. I do not publish fixed fees, because every situation is different. Call 214-363-1828 or reach my office through the contact page for an honest estimate of what your case would involve. Call My Office About Your Recoupment CaseIf you are facing a recoupment demand, or you expect one once your separation is final, please give my office a call at 214-363-1828 for advice, assistance, and, where appropriate, representation. Contact William C. Meili, Attorney at Law by calling 214-363-1828 or Toll-Free: (866) 578-0164, to schedule a confidential consultation and discuss the best path forward. |