Most Recent Blog Posts
Did the VA Benefit of the Doubt Rule just disappear?
In late December 2021, the Federal Circuit issued the rare "en banc" decision, addressing the legal standard for review of the BVA's application of the VA benefit of the doubt rule. When a court sits "en banc," it means that the entire court sits to hear the issue...
Regulation Update: VA Ratings for Kidney Disease and Renal Dysfunction.
Effective November 14, 2021, the criteria used to establish a VA rating for kidney disease (providing disability compensation for renal dysfunction to veterans with service-connected genitourinary conditions) was updated. Why is the VA updating the VA rating for...
How Veterans Law is Made.
How is Veterans Law Made? If you file a VA claim or appeal, you are bound by the law - and so, too, is the Department of Veterans Affairs (at least in theory); how, then is Veterans Law made? And, second, can this knowledge of veterans law help disabled veterans to...
What is the VA Claims File?
I have long said that the VA Claims File is the most important document in your VA Claim. Why? In a nutshell, it is the key to winning your VA claim or appeal. The rating decisions sent out by the VA and the BVA decisions sound out by the Board are incredibly vague...
Can you service connect obesity? YES!
So you filed a VA Obesity claim. At some point you have seen this phrase in a VA Ratings Decision or the decision of a BVA Judge: "Your obesity is not an injury or disease for VA purposes". As of August 26, 2021, this is no longer correct. On that date, my law firm...
New Rule allows Presumptive Service Connection for Veterans particulate matter (burn pit) claims.
It is widely known that veterans particulate matter and burn pit exposure claims have been next to impossible for veterans to win on the first claim or appeal. That is about to change. If you are a veteran who served in Southwest Asia since August 2, 1990, or in...
Episode 5: Accepting the Transgender Veteran.
When I left the Army, I had no concept of what it meant to be transgender, nor did I know of anyone who was "out" as trans. I certainly knew nobody who was a transgender veteran. Years later, my son told us he was a trans-man; I had to learn what that meant in a...
Federal Circuit trashes three VA supplemental claim regulations.
The Federal Circuit has invalidated certain parts of three supplemental claim regulations under the Appeals Modernization Act, or AMA: 38 C.F.R. §14.636(c)(1)(i), 38 C.F.R. §3.2500(b), and 38 C.F.R. §3.155. In doing so, the Federal Circuit explained how these three...
