National Veterans Service Officer Time Limit

[add55p]

Does the BVA Veteran Law Judge (VLJ) give the National Veterans Service Office a time limit to complete a written argument on a pending appeal, after the VLJ sends it to the VSO for input?

Thank you..

[broncovet]

The only one with "time limits" is the Veteran. The VA can take as long as they want with your claim.

A big portion of the delays on appeal is on the VSO's shoulders. When ebenefits shows "with VSO", this means your VSO is delaying your claim and its gathering dust.

[mojo13]

Had my VLJ traveling judge on 11/05 at ST Petersburg RO no file everything on electronic file on need for paper file "C file" to be sent. I was notify of my VLJ meeting 4day before. Ro called and said I was scheduled to meet the judge on 11/05 10.30 AM. Vso also called to confirm that date and give me some last min advice so did DC. Saw judge spoke to judge she looked up my file added new evidence via scanner at RO and said my file was being sent to her law clerk in DC to transcribe my tapped statements and review all my evidence. Ebennies has me at level 2 as of 11/20 even though I know its in the hands of a law clerk and sent electronically. I also know my appointed VLJ and have had my docket number way back on 12/13. things are changing for the better. My VSO did a good job I was surprised. Oh and before I forget my VSO made me sign a waiver of review even though the judge also requested it and he had it at ready. Thank you Call me BOB will let you know now how long it will take before I get me my appeal granted or denied. Time will tell. JMHO

[FormerMember]

Re: DRO versus Traditional appeals

I look at claims as a river or claim stream. The CAVC does too. Thus, a claim has it's inception at filing and 85% of the time proceeds downhill to a denial. That's why we have asknod.org and Hadit.com. If it can go haywire, it will. When and if you desire a hearing at the local level, be it an administrative hearing, a simple confab with the rater or a DRO hearing, it will entail a delay. Asking for a DRO review under 38 CFR 3.2600 also means an extraordinary delay because there are X number of Decision Review Officers available. They are GS-12-13s and there aren't many. Getting a date for a hearing delays your claim. Yes, in an ideal world you'd like to accomplish it locally. If it doesn't encompass cutting edge jurisprudence, it can occur at the RO but the delay is extraordinary. I do not condone waiting for a DRO to adjudicate it if the answer has a high probability of rejection. Absent anything new to submit, or a gross distortion of the facts, your SOC will arrive within two years.

On the other hand, the delay for a BVA hearing is artificial. VA merely warehouses your traditional appeal at the RO for an equally interminable time before forwarding it to DC. Newsflash. The BVA has become as constipated as ROs. By filing the Form 9, you are asking for a docket date. This marks your time in line to certification. Certification is a five syllable word for making sure the postage is correct. If you also request a VLJ hearing either at the RO or the DC, it will compound the delay. I have written that a Traditional appeals path results in a new de novo decision at the RO anyway-albeit by a senior rater rather than the DRO. The difference is minor. The rater can get his two signatures and your win the same as the DRO. If it goes over $25 K, it needs three signatures. It happens sooner too. If denied again on the traditional path, you are now in the Form 9 line and sitting on the Group W bench.

A travel board hearing at your RO is often a year or more out and a BVA decision another 15 months on top of it- minimum. My point in all this is ---Do you go for a DRO hearing (on the record) so as to include your contentions in the c-file for a potential appeal or go for an informal one where you can lose and none of your rebuttal is part of the Evidence of Record? Tough choice. If you lose due to ignorance on their part, you are now joining the line behind your brother and sister Vets who filed the Form 9 almost two years before you. Statistically, they have a 23% better shot at it and sooner, too.

I advocate for BVA VLJ decisions because if you are right, once you get over the jurisdictional hump of RO and BVA denials, you arrive at a real court (CAVC) with real rules and real authority. Your appeal will be heard in less than 10 months. Your chances of achieving the win or a JMR are infinitely better at the CAVC. 65% of appealed claims are resolved in the Vet's favor or a do-over with a high probability of success ensuing there. Simply put- do you wish to fritter away time on a very difficult, hard to understand claim locally with, God forbid, a brain dead VSO at your elbow or do you want to get it in front of a real judge? 23% of appealed claims to the BVA are decided in your favor. No one has any statistics on AOJ error because they refuse to divulge it. All we have are the anecdotal stories of all you Vets who come here with your tales of woe. That, to me, indicates a 50% plus error rate which, incidentally, is often documented by VAOIG inspections of Regional Offices.

Making a decision of this magnitude must be predicated on each Vet's individual circumstances. One size does not fit all. I often worry when I read of a Vet telling another to do what he or she did based on the barest of facts. Understanding Case or Controversy in a law setting is not a hit or miss undertaking. If you are unknowledgeable and offer advice, you endanger another's claim. As for advocating pro or con for a local versus appealed claim, consider what the contentions are. If they are cutting-edge matters of first impression, you're wasting your time at your RO. They simply do not have the capability, let alone the authority, to be making decisions of any magnitude. Likewise the BVA. No one has the corner on legal knowledge. Look at what the Federal Circuit handed down yesterday in O'Bryan v. McDonald. Hell, even the CAVC gets it wrong some of the time. Choosing the right venue is often the path to success.

https://asknod.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/fed-cir-obryan-v-mcdonald-hoist-on-their-own-vaopgcprecs/