NOVA Webinar: Staff Series - Presenter Information

Glenda Herl

Attended Washburn University, Topeka, KS 1973-1976. Employed as Chief Operating Officer for Carpenter, Chartered, 1984 to present. Responsibilities include VA case file analysis, development and presentation, financial planning, policy making, strategic planning, business development, organizational development, human resource management, and the general and fiscal management of the firm and its employees.

Admitted to practice at the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims as a non-attorney practitioner on December 8, 1999. Assist in the preparation of cases for oral argument and have participated in more than 30 oral arguments before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Assist in the preparation of briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and attend oral arguments.

Other practice related organizations: Member of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, 1995 to present. Served as the volunteer Executive Director for the organization from 1995 through 2004. Founding member of the CAVC Bar Association and a member since 2001. Served on the Board of Governors as well as the Secretary, Treasurer, President Elect and President from 2001-2007. Co-chaired the First CAVC Bar and Bench Conference in 2007 and the Second CAVC Bar and Bench Conference in 2015. Founding member and serving on the Board of Trustees for the Court of

Appeals for Veterans Claims Historical Society. Serving on the CAVC Judicial Advisory Committee since 2017.

Awards: Recipient of the President’s Award from NOVA for distinguished service to the organization on April 20, 2013 and the Kenneth M. Carpenter Achievement Award for Excellence in April 2017. Recipient of the CAVC’s Hart T. Mankin Distinguished Service Award on two occasions. First it was presented to the leadership of NOVA on September 18, 2000 during tenure as Executive Director. On April 25, 2006, the award was presented in recognition of outstanding service to the Court as a founding member and President Elect of the Court’s Bar Association and in support of the programs and administration of the Association since its inception.

John Tucker

John V. Tucker is the Principal of Tucker Disability Law, P.A., a law firm with 18 employees in five states and a national VA Service-Connected Compensation and Disability Insurance law practice headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In addition to his law practice, John is an Adjunct Practice Advisor providing business coaching to attorneys with Atticus (https://atticusadvantage.com/). In that capacity, he works with attorneys to help them grow great practices to fit the great life they want to live.

Currently, John is a member of NOVA’s Board of Directors and Chair of NOVA’s Webinar Planning Committee. He also recently launched a pilot mentoring program for NOVA with fellow Board Member Amy Kretkowski.

John received his B.A. in 1988 and J.D. in 1991 from the University of Florida. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in October 1991 and is admitted to several U.S. District Courts around the country, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He is also accredited to represent Veterans in claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

He is AV-Rated by Martindale Hubbell, has received a 10/10-Superb designation by Avvo.com, and has been named to the Florida Super Lawyer and Florida Legal Elite lists for several years. He served for several years as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law. In his local legal community, John served as President of the St. Petersburg Bar Association from 2001 to 2002.

John has lectured and is nationally published in a wide variety of disability topics, including Veterans Service-Connected Compensation. He has presented recent lectures at national conferences of the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, and NOVA.

Tamesha Larbi

Tamesha N. Larbi, Esq., is a solo attorney and owner of Larbi Legal, a boutique law firm providing skilled legal advocacy to veterans and their families pursuing long-overdue veterans benefits.  She provides representation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, and various service discharge and records review boards. She is a decorated combat veteran who retired after 23 years of service.

Her military career encompassed service in the U.S. Army JAG Corps as a court reporter and trial defense service paralegal before she later commissioned as a JAG officer.  She later served as a U.S. Army Reserve JAG officer with mobilization tours as Trial Counsel for the Military District of Washington, Litigation Attorney for the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency, and as a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) Attorney with the U.S. Army Medical Command’s Office of Soldier’s Counsel.

Judy Donegan

Committed to the goal of seeing that no veteran, with a meritorious case, goes unrepresented at the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims or when pursuing benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Judy is in private practice and serves on the CAVC Rules Advisory Committee and the 2022 Judicial Conference Planning Committee.

As a seasoned veterans law attorney, Judy has spent the last 15 years representing U.S. military veterans before the CAVC, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  She is also admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

She was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1994. Her appellate work before the CAVC began in 2007, and she became an accredited attorney for practice before the VA the following year. She has participated in more than 4,000 appeals before the CAVC and has been a sustaining member of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates since 2007.

Wichita CMA, David Jackson

David T. Jackson II was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and raised in Newton, KS. In 1996, he graduated from Newton High School. The following year, he entered the United States Navy. Upon completion of Recruit Training Command (RTC), he attended Aviation Electronics “A” School, where he graduated number one in his class, and earned a meritorious promotion. He served with distinction in several operational tours: Patrol Squadron 94, New Orleans, LA; Patrol Squadron 92, Brunswick, Maine; Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 59, Fort Worth, TX; Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 59, Andrews AFB; and Naval Operational Support Center (NOSC) Wichita, Wichita, KS. During those tours, he excelled in Maintenance, Operations, and Administration roles.

His academic achievements include a Bachelor of Science Degree in Theology; a Masters Degree in Leadership/Public Administration where he graduated Summa Cum Laude; Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) course; and the Dale Carnegie Leadership course, earing the highest award for achievement. He is the recipient of the prestigious Admiral Phil A. Smith award for Naval Operational Excellence. In 2022, he was accepted into Liberty University’s MBA program, with a concentration in Data Analytics and Leadership.

As a Naval In-flight Technician, Loadmaster, and Flight Engineer, he accumulated over 4,000 flight hours in support of global operations. His Navy awards include: the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two awards; the Navy and Marine Corps achievement medal, seven awards; Sailor of the Year, three awards; Sailor of the Quarter, five awards; Letters of Commendations, 14 awards; and Navy Aircrew Wings and Enlisted Warfare Specialist Insignias. He retired from the Navy in 2017 with 20 year’s of honorable and distinguished service.

In August of 2021, David Jackson was hired by the VA Wichita Regional Office as a Management Analyst where he has made a vital difference, adding his trademark “can do” attitude to the assisting of Veterans.