Claims Agent Carly Weakland 

A VA Claims Agent Who Has Lived the Mission

Carly Weakland serves as a VA accredited claims agent, non-attorney VA representative, and Team Lead of the Veterans’ Benefits department at Hiller Comerford Injury & Disability Law in Buffalo, New York. In 2025, she became the firm’s first person attorney or otherwise to earn VA accreditation as a claims agent. That federal designation authorizes her to represent veterans directly before the Department of Veterans Affairs in disability proceedings.

Her credential reflects a career built on genuine expertise. Before joining Hiller Comerford, Carly spent years representing veterans at other VA disability firms. There, she developed hands-on knowledge of the claims process, ratings decisions, and appeals strategy. She also mastered the documentation requirements that determine whether veterans receive the benefits they have earned. In short, she came to this firm already knowing how to win.

Building a Department That Delivers at Scale

Beyond her individual caseload, Carly has reshaped how the Veterans’ Benefits department operates. As Team Lead, she designed the systems, training protocols, and case management infrastructure that allowed the department to grow into a team of more than 25 staff members and it continues to expand. Because of her operational work, the quality of advocacy veterans receive does not decline as the firm scales.

Carly also mentors department paralegals directly. As a result, several are now actively pursuing their own VA accreditations. Their progress reflects both her guidance and the professional standard she sets every day at Hiller Comerford.

An Advocate Shaped by Her Own Service

What truly distinguishes Carly in the Buffalo VA disability community is the decade she spent as a U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman. Over 10 years of active duty, she worked across a broad range of medical environments. Specifically, she delivered inpatient bedside care and supported aviation medicine operations for the Marine Corps. That range of experience gives her a perspective on military medical reality that most VA advocates simply do not have.

Consequently, she approaches every claim differently than a practitioner who learned the VA system only from the outside. She understands service-connected conditions as real injuries with real histories not just line items in a ratings schedule. She knows how military medical records are created, where documentation gaps tend to appear, and how to close them effectively. Veterans who work with Carly get an advocate who already understands what their service cost them.

Education & Credentials

Carly holds a Bachelor of Legal Studies from Keiser University in Sarasota, Florida. Additionally, she holds VA accreditation as a claims agent and non-attorney representative before the Department of Veterans Affairs the first person at Hiller Comerford Injury & Disability Law to earn that designation.

Her standard for advocacy is straightforward: know the system, know the veteran, and fight for every point they have earned.