AFTER YOU HAVE BVA HEARING

[paulcolrain]

i see a lot of things on line regarding time frame. most start with the word NOD,,,, well im trying to get a real conversation on time frame. im not asking about returns to bva or when your appeal started,, i know that info.... MY QUESTION IS,,, ONCE YOU MET THE JUDGE IN DC AND DISCUSSED YOUR CASE AND HE SAID THATS THAT,, NOW WAIT FOR MY DECISION,,,,,, HOW LONG IS NORMAL..... HOW LONG IS NORMAL TO WAIT FOR A JUDGE TO MAKE A DECISION ON A CASE HE HAS PRECIDED OVER?

[paulcolrain]

ANOTHER NOTE I MIGHT ADD IS THAT MY NOD IS 2010. AND, THE ONLY REASON I HAVE A NOD ON 2010 IS BECAUSE THEY DIDNT FIND MY SERVICE RECORDS UNTIL 2010 THEN GRANTED. BUT ALL SAID I HAVE A DOCKET OF 2015.. IF DOCKET GOES WITH NOD,,, WHY IS MY DOCKET 2015?

[Gastone]

The Judge that presides over your BVA Hearing, isn't necessarily the Decision Judge. Give Chris Attig (VETLaw Site) a read, regarding his face to face discussion with a Sr BVA Decision Making Judge, regarding the BVA Decision making process.

My take away, the BVA Hearing Judge is like a Sr Law Clerk, hears the Appeal, makes sure all the Legal I's & T's are dotted & crossed. Then presents the Case to the SR BVA Decision making Judge, possibly along with a recommendation. Not unusual for final Decisions to take up to a yr, if not remanded.

Spend some time reviewing 2015 & 16 BVA Decisions, what's your conclusion, time wise? You mention you have a BVA Docket 2015, that's when your RO Certified your Appeal as complete at the RO and transferred it to the BVA. You won't have a BVA Hearing until after receiving the "New & Material Evidence Cutoff Letter."  You didn't apply for a Hardship Bump to the front of the Hearing Line, right?

The date of your NOD Filing 2010, has nothing to do with your eventual BVA Docket number. For whatever reasons, your Appeal stayed at your RO up till 2015. Did you opt for the BVA Immediately or did you attempt the DRO Review or Hearing route 1st?

Semper Fi

[paulcolrain]

your response is very thorough. ill answer best i can..

my case was heard in DC at BVA in may 2015.

i had 4 appealls rolling and they snuck the oldest contentions into the last. in other words... my oldest appeals getting certified got rolled into my 1 appeal so id only have 1 hearing. 

on my oldest appeal i opted for a dro first then after 3 ssox,, i went for the right to have it heard before the bva. along with that a new claim that went to a nod i ended up saying no to the percentage and date. so i opted for the right of a bva hearing. they put all this together and created a docket # that goes with the newest.

 

[Gastone]

You were Rep'd 05/2015 at the BVA DC Hearing, by whom, Attorney or VSO-Rep? What contact have you had from either the BVA or your appeals Rep regarding your wait-time?

For what this may be worth, I just got a CAVC Status report from a good friend. His 2015 BVA Denial docket 15 27?, which he opted to proceed to the CAVC, Decision had been posted 12/2016. Both Appealed issues had been remanded.

He had been unable to find a "for Fee" attorney to rep him at the BVA Hearing. On my advice, he had contacted Attig's Law firm, they begged off citing they were overloaded with cases. Probably not enough Retro at the BVA Level. I told him to check out the DC Pro Bono Law Firm, which ended up reping him at the BVA and CAVC.

The DC Firm represented him Pro Bono at the DC BVA Hearing but were Awarded about $18K in Legal Fees from the CAVC Hearing.  Although he didn't get an actual Award, the Remand was considered a win as to Legal Fees.

After reading the extensive Remand instructions issued by the CAVC, taking into consideration the CAVC Direction for expedited handling of the Remand, the Vet's probably looking at another 12 - 16 months for a Decision.

Semper Fi

 

 

 

 

[Berta]

" they put all this together and created a docket # that goes with the newest."

You mean the docket number was changed?

I just checked my BVA case....filed claim early 2003, appealed 2004 decision,awarded May 2009 by the BVA,(after a very brief remand),RO finally paid what they owed me in  2010 ( first case of it's kind so that was a battle)...but the docket number never changed.....

You had a BVA hearing in May 2015?

My question is the same as Gastones:

"You were Rep'd 05/2015 at the BVA DC Hearing, by whom, Attorney or VSO-Rep? What contact have you had from either the BVA or your appeals Rep regarding your wait-time? "

Have you contacted the BVA yourself?

Their contact numbers are here at hadit.

Also as Gastone said:

"The date of your NOD Filing 2010, has nothing to do with your eventual BVA Docket number. "

That is correct. After I filed the AO DMII claim in 2003 that the BVA awarded, I also filed a Cue Claim in 2003, as well as one in 2004, that R0 had denied and that I had appealed.

Those claims sat at my RO until 2010 when they were set for BVA transfer, but by then I had filed a AO IHD death claim and the Nehmer VARO,per my request, adjudicated those 2 CUEs and awarded them.

They had been filed prior to the Nehmer claim , not sent to BVA yet, and I stated to Nehmer RO that they were contingent on a proper IHD AO death award.

My point is to support what Gastone stated. I also believe my monetary issue with the RO on the DMII claim,which BVA awarded in 2009 (and which took the OGC to resolve, by sending them the same regulations I had sent them-which they ignored) was still an open issue when Nehmer got my AO IHD claim...all separate claim issues.

I dont understand how the BVA could roll everything into one pending appeal.......with a new docket number?...

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2016 by Berta

[paulcolrain]

ill try to answer.

so, from what ive read on various web sites,, first the denial then the nod then then appeal starts. now, vet has choice to bva hearing or video bva hearing. then the RO gets all things together and sends for a formal receipt to the bva to be doceted. now, this docet is supposed to go with the dates the appeal was asked for NOT THE DATE THE BVA AFFIRMED THE APPEAL AT THE BVA... SO that was just my understanding.

i had a hearing at the DC office of BVA. i Had an American Legion Rep with me and a Nurse who knew my Nedical evidence.

what i ment by rolling appeals into 1,,,, so i had 4 contentions that all had different NOD dates. the bva sent me a letter Febuary 2015 stating that they granted me a hearing date on may 2015. i checked Ebennies and the site showed that 2 contentions where decided. i called the bva. they stated that because all contentions arrived on or around the same time they rolled all into one appeal docket number giving it a docket number as the last one that arrived. 

when i arrived at the hearing,,, the judge said what we are here for and what was up on appeal... i said NO... PLEASE LOOK AND SEE THAT THE OTHER CONTENTIONS WHERE ROLLED INTO THIS DATE. HE SEEN THE NOTES AND AGREED AND PROCEEDED TO HEAR ALL 4...

WHEN I CALL THE BVA THEY TELL ME ,, THE JUDGE HAS NOT MADE A DECISION YET ON MY APPEAL. THATS ALL THEY SAY....  

SIDE NOTE,,, EBENNIES STATUS SAYS,, PENDING HEARING REQUEST... THEN I CLICK ON IT AND IT SAYS HEARING TOOK PLACE. THIS HAS ALWAYS BOTHERED ME CUS SOMETIMES WHEN IVE ASKED FOR EBENEFITS TO UPDATE CORRECTLY AND EMAIL ME RESULTS I USUALLY GET THINGS FIXED AND THEN GET DECISIONS ON THINGS WITHIN A FEW WEEKS. I HAVNT DONE IT THIS TIME YET....