Most Recent Blog Posts
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...
Here’s how to file your appeal with the Veterans Court.
When you get a BVA decision that denies your claim, you’ll want to know these 3 steps to getting your appeal before the Veterans Court.
What did the Court say about the BVA direct review lane under AMA?
The CAVC precedential opinion in Andrews v. 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. This is a long post, to be sure. But I think this information is...
