Cavc Claim Update

[daklander]

My case went to the CAVC in March of 2012 and to a judge in August of 2013. Yesterday I got an email from my attorney. The Court has looked over your case, and identified it as a possible case for oral argument. Oral arguments are very rare in the Court, so this means the Court views your case as having some important issues. So now we're on a 15 day stay while he and the VA negotiate for either approval or remand. More than likely it will be a remand if they come to terms.

[FormerMember]

We put teeth in mine. It wasn't open-ended. I gave up an extra year of tinnitus @$85 /month and agreed to let them dismiss my back claim without prejudice. That permitted me to refile it later. These were built-in bargaining chips inserted in 2007 when I filed to reopen. In exchange, they agreed in advance to give me my 1994 effective date. A JMR is a double-edged sword. If constructed with defined parameters at the outset, it protects you. If it is merely a tool to remand back to the BVA with no preordained conditions, then it is ill-advised. Murphy's first law applies.

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[Navy04]

There is always a catch when it comes to the Govt. In my opinion if a case is well documented with good evidence, grant the claim, small or large. If there is questions in a claim, or lack of evidence, then the VA should spend years on those cases, not an open and shut case.

[GatorNavy]

There is always a catch when it comes to the Govt. In my opinion if a case is well documented with good evidence, grant the claim, small or large. If there is questions in a claim, or lack of evidence, then the VA should spend years on those cases, not an open and shut case.

i agree. That's the way it should be, but never has and never will....

When dealing with the Gov't there is no open and shut case...The "system" is designed to delay and deny. The way to "win" the benefits that are rightfully yours to begin with is to wait for the VA to make mistakes and then get an attorney to argue your case. Think of the VARO as a big fishing net with a few small holes. A few fish will get through and move on till they get caught up in the BVA net. A few fish will get through the BVA net to get caught in the CAVC net. It's a marathon race not a sprint. Some will burnout and fall to the wayside while others will pace themselves to the finish line. I am on year 5 of my claim and although I have made some great strides, I still have at least a year (probably two) before this claim is finished. For a VA claim to take 5-7 years doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary though. Some believe the FDC is just a faster denial and will cause the appeals "backlog" to balloon. In any event it takes the patience of Job and the tenacity of Daniel to process your claim with the VA. That's been my experience anyway.

This is a good thread to understand what goes on at the CAVC should I have the need to get there. Getting a BVA VLJ that can see the light seems to be the luck of the draw sometimes after having read a hundred cases or so. The "art" of crafting a JMR, interesting.

[Slowlane]

Sick

[daklander]

The latest: We are now on a stay and in negotiations though my case has been put on the docket to go before the panel.

The VA requested a delay until Feb 19th and just the other day a motion was made to continue the delay for 15 days so we are now at March 6 2014.