Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b), a veteran may be entitled to a higher rating for symptoms of his/her service-connected disability than provided by the VA Rating Schedule, if the Schedule does not cover the veteran’s symptoms.  As we all know, the VA Rating Schedule has various diagnostic codes to cover the wide range of disabilities and illnesses. A disability rating …

What To Do When The VA Unreasonably Delays The Development And/Or Adjudication Of A Claim The old saying — “Justice delayed is justice denied” — is no mere cliché for VA veterans. It is a hard fact of life. No doubt, every veteran representative has sad stories to tell about the intolerable delays of their clients’ cases. However, there may …

Nearly every veteran representative is familiar with total disability ratings based upon individual unemployability (TDIU). They are the most common way for obtaining a 100% disability rating, given the difficulty of securing a total disability rating under the stringent criteria of the VA Schedule. Two subsections of 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 provide for TDIU ratings: 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) & …

Arguing an Effective Date When For a Claim When an NOD Wasn’t Filed.   The date of a claim is the earliest effective date allowed for a service-connected disability award. In general, when an RO renders a decision on a claim, the decision becomes final, unless a Notice of Disagreement has been filed within one year. A final decision means …

In Saunders v. Wilkie, ___F.3d___ (filed on April 3, 2018), the Federal Circuit held that pain alone, absent a specific diagnosis or identifiable disease or injury, may be a basis for a disability award, so long as the pain is related to military service.  On this score, Saunders overruled longstanding Veterans Court cases. In so holding, the Federal Circuit focused …