Court Process
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims hears appeals by veterans or others who seek benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs from adverse decisions of the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The Board is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Court is not part of VA but is an impartial Federal judicial forum. The Court is composed of seven judges who are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Many appeals are decided by only one of these judges. But, the Court may sit as a panel of three judges, or the entire Court may decide the case.
A person who files an appeal at the Court is called an "appellant". An appellant who decides to appeal a Board decision to the Court is bringing legal action against the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, who is called the "appellee." The Court's review of an appeal is an adversarial process and the pro-veteran rules under which VA decides claims do not apply to the Court. Like all courts, the Court has specific Rules of Practice and Procedure that must be followed. An appeal or other matter can be dismissed or delayed if the appellant does not follow these Rules.
Filing of the Notice of Appeal begins the process that is governed by the Court Rules. Although the Court will construe its Rules liberally for appellants who are unrepresented, the Rules must still be followed. One concession the Rules make is that an unrepresented appellant can file an informal brief using a form provided by the Court. See Rule 28(i). An unrepresented appellant is responsible for giving the Court and any other parties separate written notice of any change of address or telephone number. See Rule 46.1.
After you file the Notice of Appeal, the lawyer representing VA will designate those documents in your claim file that the lawyer believes are important for the Court to see in deciding the appeal. A copy will be sent to you. This process is called the "Designation of the Record." See Rule 10(a). If you believe there are other documents that were considered or available for consideration by the Board that are important for the Court to see but that were not contained in the Designation of the Record, you will be given an opportunity to file them with the Court. This is called the Counter Designation of the Record. See Rule 10(b). Together the Designation of the Record and the Counter Designation of the Record are called the Record on Appeal.
After the VA lawyer files the Record on Appeal with the Court, the Clerk of the Court will notify you that the Record has been filed and that you must file a brief with the Court within 60 days of the date of that notice. See Rule 31. As stated above, unrepresented appellants may file an informal brief using the Court's Informal Brief Form. See Rule 28(i). After your brief is filed and served, the VA lawyer has 60 days to file a brief for the Secretary. After that brief is filed, you will then have 14 days to file an optional Reply Brief to respond to anything the VA lawyer said in the Secretary's Brief. See Rule 28(c) and Rule 31. The Court can extend the time limits for the filing of the briefs for good cause. Anyone seeking an extension must file with the Court a motion asking for the extension before the date on which the brief is due. See Rule 26(b) and Rule 31. After all briefs have been filed, the case will be assigned to a judge for decision. Although individual cases vary, on average it takes approximately one year from the date a notice of appeal is filed until the case is decided.
