11/15/2023 0 Comments Va bva decisions![]() ![]() This was a problem because a BVA judge spent an average of 25 minutes on each case that came across their desk. It required the veterans law judges at the BVA to develop new evidence, re-consider the duty to assist, reweigh the evidence, etc. ![]() Whatever it meant to handle the remand expeditiously, remand decisions from the BVA under the Legacy Appeals system were some of the faster decisions the BVA issued under AMA. The veteran could add new evidence and take advantage of Congress’s requirement that remands from the Court be handled “expeditiously”. Under the legacy appeals system, when the Veterans Court remanded an appeal to the BVA, the CAVC included instructions that the veteran and their representative were to be given notice and 90-days to submit additional evidence and argument to the BVA before its decision.Īdvocates for veterans loved this – the Court became a way to reopen the record before the BVA. So, because the parties agreed that there was error in the BVA decision, a remand to the BVA was necessary to fix the Board’s mistake. The veteran was appealing a low-balled knee rating from the VA, and he and the VA agreed that the BVA relied on an inadequate medical opinion in reviewing the rating assigned by the VA Regional Office (what we are now calling the Agency of Original Jurisdiction, or AOJ). What the VA and the veteran disagreed on was what happened after the CAVC remanded the appeal back to the BVA. In the Andrews case, the veteran and the VA both agreed that the BVA screwed up and failed to fulfill the duty to assist by relying on an inadequate medical opinion. The issue, generally, was what can the Veterans Court direct the BVA to do when it vacates or sets aside a Board decision under the AMA and remands it to the BVA for re-adjudication. But I think this information is critical – if you are appealing to the BVA under AMA, or are a VSO or accredited agent or attorney representing a veteran making such an appeal, there are some traps that you need to be aware of.īy the way, if you are a Veterans Law Blog® annual or monthly subscriber, you have FREE access to the video about this decision in the “Important Caselaw from the Veterans Court and Federal Circuit” Course. McDonough, issued by the Veterans Court on May 28, 2021, is an interesting case, especially because of what it implies about the BVA Direct Review lane. The CAVC precedential opinion in Andrews v. ![]()
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