Buckner v. McDonough

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Decided: May 31, 2022
• Docket: 20-2316
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Case: 20-2316 Document: 17 Page: 1 Filed: 05/31/2022

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

CHARLIE L. BUCKNER, Claimant-Appellant

v.

DENIS MCDONOUGH, Secretary of Veterans Af- fairs, Respondent-Appellee ______________________

2020-2316 ______________________

Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No. 19-4419, Judge Michael P. Allen, Judge Joseph L. Falvey, Jr., and Judge Coral Wong Pi- etsch. ______________________

Before LOURIE, TARANTO, and HUGHES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. ORDER Upon consideration of counsel’s notice that appellant died during the pendency of this appeal and response to the court’s March 24, 2022, order indicating that he has “not located any person capable of substituting for the deceased appellant” and that he “no longer represent[s] a client ca- pable of further prosecuting this appeal,” ECF No. 16, Case: 20-2316 Document: 17 Page: 2 Filed: 05/31/2022

IT IS ORDERED THAT: (1) The appeal is dismissed, and the decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals is vacated. See DiOrio v. Ni- cholson, 216 F. App’x 974 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (vacating under- lying decision under same circumstances); see generally United States v. Munsingwear, Inc., 340 U.S. 36, 40 (1950) (explaining that vacatur is appropriate when review of the underlying judgment is prevented by happenstance). (2) Each side to bear its own costs. FOR THE COURT

May 31, 2022 /s/ Peter R. Marksteiner Date Peter R. Marksteiner Clerk of Court

cc: United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims