Veterans Advocate and Lawyer

Al Giordano is a proud disabled veteran and former marine sergeant who has had an immediate family member serve in every major American conflict since WWI and has represented claimants in every major American conflict since WWI.

A Family History of Military Service

Al comes from a family that believes in service. His maternal grandfather served served as a Medical officer with the AEF in WWI under General Blackjack Pershing. His paternal grandfather served in an elite Alpine unit of the Italian Army against the Axis Austria-Hungarian Army before emigrating to America.

One of Al’s many uncles served in the Pacific in WWII as an enlisted Marine, experiencing combat on both Saipan and Iwo Jima. Another uncle served in Germany at the end of the war and was called back for Korea in 1950, seeing brutal winter combat. Al’s father and two other uncles served in the USMC between the Korea and Vietnam wars. It was during this time that Al was born on MCB Camp Lejeune. Several of his cousins served during Vietnam and post-Vietnam.

His brother graduated from West Point in 1983 and served in the US. Army until 1988. Al enlisted in the Marines in 1981, serving till 1985. Before leaving active duty, he completed three WesPac deployments and three Team Spirit Operations with 2nd BN 3rd Marines. In February of 1991, Al was involuntarily recalled in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm, serving thru 1993.

A Legal Advocate for Disabled Veterans 

As a Veterans advocate and lawyer, Al Giordano has represented claimants from every major American conflict since WWI.

In early 1993 Al visited the New York Veterans Administration Regional Office (NYVARO) to file a claim for a service-connected disability and shortly thereafter began his professional career as the first Persian Gulf War National Service Officer (NSO) hired by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Al represented thousands of disabled veteran claimants while working out of the NYVARO and also served as an instructor at the DAV’s training academy. He eventually was promoted to Supervising NSO in Buffalo, NY, Newark, NJ, and NY, NY. 

In 2001, shortly before 9/11, Al started night classes at Seton Hall Law because he wanted to practice law at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The next year was spent spearheading the DAV relief efforts for disabled veterans impacted by the events of 9/11, managing the NY and NJ DAV offices, and attending law school. 

In late 2002 Al left DAV for Eastern Paralyzed Veterans, working with their staff on representing claimants with spinal conditions. 

Wounded Warrior Project

In 2004 Al was one of a group of advocates who all recognized the need for increased programming to assist the wounded, ill, and injured in their reintegration process. From this humble beginning, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) was born. Al served as the first WWP Service Director and established the charity’s ability to capably represent claimants by hiring and training dozens of NSO’s for their VA-accredited service program. Al also worked with the team on important pieces of legislation; TSGLI, or Traumatic Disability Insurance was passed in 2005. This program has paid out over $1B to date, and all active-duty service members are covered for future injuries. In 2010 WWP was instrumental in passing the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, providing over $1B in assistance to date for the most catastrophically injured service members. By 2016 Al was COO of WWP, which at the time was the fastest-growing charity in US history and served 100,000 veterans with a multitude of programs.

VA Claims Lawyer LLC