Craig M. Kabatchnick

From 1998 to the present Professor Kabatchnick has been of counsel to the Everett & Everett law firm in Durham , North Carolina ; specializing in veterans and military law. He has handled matters involving medical malpractice at VA hospitals, nursing home care, disability and compensation rating appeals, reimbursement for private medical expenses, widow benefits, effective dates and reopening of claims at the VA Regional Office level. Professor Kabatchnick assisted in a project undertaken by the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University to study possible causes of the Gulf War Syndrome. In September 2005 Professor Kabatchnick addressed all the District Officers of the North Carolina Division for Veterans Affairs at their annual convention concerning compensation for injury or death as a result of VA Health Care under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 and 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) (The Federal Tort Claims Act). In October 2005 Professor Kabatchnick planned and was a speaker at a North Carolina Bar Association CLE and nationwide webcast addressing veterans' rights and administrative military personnel law. In March 2006 Professor Kabatchnick addressed the Braxton-Craven Inn of Court, Duke University School of Law, regarding veteran's rights, the lack of legal representation for veterans at the initial claims adjudication level, and VA tort claims. In May 2006 Professor Kabatchnick addressed the North Carolina Association of County Veterans Service Officers at their annual convention concerning compensation for injury or death as a result of VA Health Care under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 and 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) (The Federal Tort Claims Act). In October 2006 Professor Kabatchnick planned and was a speaker at a North Carolina Bar Association CLE and nationwide webcast addressing veterans' rights and administrative military personnel law. In November 2006 Professor Kabatchnick addressed the Durham County Bar Association and the 14 th Judicial Bar concerning veteran's claims and the crisis involving the lack of legal representation at the initial claims adjudication level. In January 2007 Professor Kabatchnick addressed The National Association of State Head Injury Administrators on the issue of benefits available to active duty personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans overall, also discussing post-traumatic stress disorder. In January 2007 Professor Kabatchnick was appointed to serve as an adjunct law professor, teaching a course and overseeing the volunteer legal work of participating North Carolina Central School of Law students working on veterans claims at various stages of the claims adjudication process, including judicial review, for the Veterans Law Clinic at North Carolina Central School of Law. On April 17, 2007 Professor Kabatchnick testified before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Veterans Affairs, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs on H.R. 67, H.R. 1435, H.R. 1444, and H.R. 1490. On May 28, 2007 Professor Kabatchnick was featured in a four page long front page article in the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly highlighting his work in veterans matters and titled the “ Battle after the Battle ”. In August 2007 Professor Kabatchnick was promoted to serve as Visiting Clinical Law Professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Professor Kabatchnick is currently the Director and Supervising Attorney of the Veterans Law Clinic at North Carolina Central School of Law. In November 2007 Professor Kabatchnick coordinated and was a speaker on three topics at a nationally televised live CLE seminar entitled Veterans Law for Attorneys, co-sponsored between the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers and the NCCU Veterans Law Clinic. In late November 2007 Professor Kabatchnick was quoted in an article in the USA Today. In December 2007 Professor Kabatchnick was the subject of a front-page article in the Durham Herald-Sun. In the Winter 2008 Professor Kabatchnick has been invited by the American Bar Association to author an article for publication in the Human Rights Magazine addressing loopholes in the legislation allowing attorney representation of veterans, the NCCU Veterans Law Clinic, and a second article addressing the Disability Review Board system within the various military departments.

From 1990-1995 as former Senior Appellate Attorney, Associate Special Assistant and Appellate Attorney in the Office of the VA General Counsel, Professor Kabatchnick represented the Department of Veterans Affairs before the United States Court of Veterans Appeals in over 300 cases of a medical/legal nature; and he was deeply involved in the VA adjudicative process with such issues as access to records, exposure to radiation/toxic substances (including asbestos), scope of physicians discretion as to modes of treatment, and eligibility of a spouse for survivor benefits.

Professor Kabatchnick is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, North Carolina Bar Association. Federal Bar Association; first ever civilian President, Pentagon Chapter 1988-1989; Bar Association of the District of Columbia Board of Directors, 1993-1995, Committee Chair of the Year (Veterans' Law Committee), 1991-1992. He is also a member of the Durham County Bar Association and the Fourteenth Judicial Bar.

Born in Washington , D.C. in 1957, he attended the University of Scranton , Scranton , Pennsylvania , earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in 1979, and later received a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University School of Law, Washington, D.C. in 1982. Professor Kabatchnick is married with two children. His hobbies are all sports and military history.

Contact Information:
ckabatchnick@nccu.edu - Email

(919) 530-6605 - Telephone
(919) 530-7981 - Fax