UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNO. 18-0765CLIFTON ARLINE, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Argued June 19, 2020 Decided July 1, 2021)April...
VA Law
Taylor v. McDonough, No. 2019-2211 (Decided: June 30, 2021); PTSD; equitable estoppel against the Government; jurisdictional analysis must focus on the legal character of the requirement, which we discern by looking to the condition’s text, context, and relevant historical treatment; Edgewood Arsenal; Department of Defense (“DoD”) undertook experiments on 6,700 ‘soldier volunteers’. . . with more than 250 different chemical warfare agents;
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit BRUCE R. TAYLOR, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2019-2211 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Legacy v. AMA; legacy system, … file an NOD, … issue a Statement of the Case (SOC); AMA system, … can file (1) a request for higher level review, (2) a supplemental claim, or (3) an NOD;
Legacy v. AMA Legacy SystemIn the legacy system, a claimant who disagreed with a VA decision could file an NOD.32After receiving a claimant’s NOD, VA would make another decision, either through a decisionreview officer or by issuing a Statement of...
Swanagan and Turman v. McDonough, No. 19-1350(E) (Argued September 11, 2020 Decided June 23, 2021); Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d); nothing in the EAJA statute limits its applicability to work performed in the United States;
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 19-1350(E)CHARLES L. SWANAGAN, APPELLANT,ANDNO. 19-3258(E)JESSE B. TURMAN, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appellants’ Application for Attorney Fees...
Andrews v. McDonough, No. 19-0352 (Argued December 9, 2020 Decided June 22, 2021);’burden of proof’; air guns and reusable syringes; hepatitis C; probative value of evidence is highly contextual and it’s often difficult to assess; Stevens v. Principi, 289 F.3d 814, 817-18 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (“When an agency has employed the wrong legal standard in evaluating evidence in the case, the appropriate remedy is normally for the reviewing court to remand the case to the agency for the agency to reassess the evidence under the correct factual standard.”);
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 19-0352DAVID A. ANDREWS, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Argued December 9, 2020 Decided June 22,...
Arellano v. McDonough, No. 2020-1073(Decided: June 17, 2021, PER CURIAM); equitable tolling with respect to 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1); Andrews v. Principi, 351 F.3d 1134 (Fed. Cir. 2003), which held that principles of equitable tolling are not applicable to the time period in 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1);
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ADOLFO R. ARELLANO, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-1073 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
2020 BVA annual report, errors identified; New and Material Evidence/New and Relevant Evidence; Traumatic Brain Injury; Lay Evidence; Presumption of Soundness and Aggravation; and AMA claims;
the BVA 2020 annual report identified a series of legal areas that they kept getting wrong, “such as: New and Material Evidence/New and Relevant Evidence; Traumatic Brain Injury; Lay Evidence; Presumption of Soundness and Aggravation; and AMA...
Anania v. McDonough, No. 2020-1086(Decided: June 10, 2021); a party’s affidavit may provide credible evidence to satisfy the mailbox rule; common law mailbox rule; Rios v. Nicholson (Rios I), 490 F.3d 928, 930–31 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (quoting Rosenthal v. Walker, 111 U.S. 185, 193 (1884));
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ROY E. ANANIA, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-1086 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Cameron v. McDonough, No. 2020-1839(Decided: June 9, 2021); attorney fees; 2006 amendment to 38 U.S.C. § 5904;
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit JOHN F. CAMERON, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-1839 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Snyder v. McDonough, No. 2020-2168(Decided: June 9, 2021); 38 C.F.R. § 3.318(a), (b); Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS);
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit JOSEPH J. SNYDER, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-2168 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Langdon v. McDonough, No. 2020-1789(Decided: June 9, 2021); General Rating Formula does not allow the VA to distinguish between the thoracic and lumbar spine segments; we hold the VA’s regulation requires it to rate the thoracolumbar spine as a unit when applying the General Rating Formula;
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ROBERT E. LANGDON, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-1789 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Lynch v. McDonough, No. 2020-2057(Decided: June 3, 2021); Ortiz v. Principi, 274 F.3d 1361, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Ortiz necessarily requires that the benefit-of-the-doubt rule may be triggered in situations other than equipoise of the evidence—specifically, situations where the evidence is “nearly equal,”; “benefit of the doubt rule” under 38 U.S.C. §5107(b);
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit JOE A. LYNCH, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2020-2067 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No....
Dermark v. McDonough, No. 19-2795(Argued October 20, 2020 Decided June 1, 2021); emergency treatments; 38 U.S.C. §§ 1725 and 1728;
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 19-2795PETER VAN DERMARK, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Argued October 20, 2020 Decided June 1,...
Andrews v. McDonough, No. 19-3227(Argued February 24, 2021 Decided May 28, 2021); Veterans AppealsImprovement and Modernization Act of 2017 (AMA); under the AMA the record in appellant’s case is limited to the evidence of record at the time of the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) decision, Kutscherousky and Fletcher do not apply as far as they allow for submission of additional evidence or require the Board to independently develop a claim;
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 19-3227WENDELL ANDREWS, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Argued February 24, 2021 Decided May 28, 2021)Richard V....
Helmick v. McDonough, No. 19-5290(Argued April 14, 2021 Decided May 25, 2021); 38 U.S.C. § 5121; accrued benefits; for purposes of section 5121(a)(6) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(a)(5), “bore the expense” means something broader than “paid.”;
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 19-5290LARRY S. HELMICK, APPELLANT,V.DENIS MCDONOUGH,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Argued April 14, 2021 Decided May 25, 2021)Andrew...