Martin v. O'Rourke

891 F.3d 1338
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedJune 7, 2018
Docket2017-1747; 2017-1761; 2017-1768; 2017-1771; 2017-1772; 2017-1774; 2017-1780; 2017-1862; 2017-1967
StatusPublished
Cited by76 cases

This text of 891 F.3d 1338 (Martin v. O'Rourke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. O'Rourke, 891 F.3d 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2018).

Opinions

Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge Moore.

Prost, Chief Judge.

The nine individual appellants in this consolidated appeal are veterans or spouses of veterans who have appealed the Department of Veterans Affairs' ("VA") denial of their claims for service-connected disability benefits. Based on delays that have occurred in each of their cases, Appellants petitioned for writs of mandamus, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ("Veterans Court") for relief. The Veterans Court denied the petitions. Although we do not opine as to whether we agree with the Veterans Court's conclusion in each case, we hold that the Veterans Court did not apply the proper standard for evaluating mandamus petitions based on unreasonable delay. Accordingly, we vacate the denial of the *1341mandamus petitions in certain cases and remand for additional consideration.

I

Veterans are entitled to compensation "[f]or disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, in the active military, naval, or air service, during a period of war." 38 U.S.C. § 1110 ; see id. § 1121 (wartime death compensation for designated heirs and dependents); id. § 1131 (peacetime disability compensation); id. § 1141 (peacetime death compensation for designated heirs and dependents). "Veteran's disability benefits are nondiscretionary, statutorily mandated benefits," and a veteran is entitled to such benefits if he or she satisfies the eligibility requirements. Cushman v. Shinseki , 576 F.3d 1290, 1298 (Fed. Cir. 2009).

A veteran begins the process of seeking benefits by filing a claim with a VA regional office. If the veteran receives an unfavorable "rating decision" from the regional office (e.g., a denial of a claim for disability benefits), he or she begins the appeal process by filing a Notice of Disagreement. See 38 U.S.C. § 7105(a). Once a Notice of Disagreement is filed,1 the VA then issues the next document required in the appeal process-the Statement of the Case ("SOC"). On average, the VA takes 500 days to prepare the SOC.2 Suppl. App. 4095. After receiving the SOC, a veteran may then file a notice of appeal with the BVA, also known as a "Form 9." See 38 C.F.R. § 19.30(b).

Once the veteran files a Form 9, the VA completes a Certification of Appeal. See 38 C.F.R. § 19.35. The certification process appears to take the VA about two and a half hours to complete, on average. J.A. 508. Nonetheless, veterans wait an average of 773 days for the VA to issue the Certification of Appeal, plus an additional 321 days for the VA to transfer the certified appeal to the BVA for docketing. Suppl. App. 4095; see 38 C.F.R. § 19.36. In contrast to preparation of the SOC, for which there is arguably an explanation for some delay, it is unclear to us why this two-and-a-half-hour certification process takes an average of 773 days to complete-and the government has not provided an explanation. And the average 321-day delay that occurs when the VA transfers the certified appeal to the BVA is even more mysterious. The government, again, has not explained the cause of this delay, even though the transfer process appears to consist of simply transferring appellate records.

After these often-significant periods of delay, the BVA will issue its decision. Overall, the average time from the filing of *1342a Notice of Disagreement to issuance of a BVA decision is over five years. Suppl. App. 4095.

The BVA's decision may then be appealed to the Veterans Court, 38 U.S.C. § 7252(a), and that decision may then be appealed to this court, id. §§ 7252(c), 7292.

II

Appellants, along with eight other veterans, petitioned the Veterans Court to issue writs of mandamus in response to alleged unreasonable delays in each of their cases.3 Appellants' mandamus petitions are substantially identical. Each broadly discusses the delays experienced by veterans awaiting resolution of their disability benefits claims with the VA. For example, the petitions allege that "[a] veteran whose disability benefits are denied by the VA wait[s], on average, 1448 days from the time the VA denies the veteran's request for benefits to the time that the [BVA] rules on the veteran's appeal." E.g. , J.A. 101. Appellants argue that this approximately four-year delay violates due process. Id. Each mandamus petition only briefly addresses the facts of the individual petitioner's case. See, e.g. , J.A. 104-05.4

The Veterans Court entered final judgments denying Appellants' petitions between January and March 2017, and each Appellant timely appealed. We have jurisdiction under 38 U.S.C. § 7292. See Lamb v. Principi , 284 F.3d 1378, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2002).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
891 F.3d 1338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-orourke-cafc-2018.