Boone v. Shinseki: Was Veterans' Appeal Timely?

Paralyzed Veterans of America's attorneys are frequently involved in cases involving veterans' rights. One recent example is Boone v. Shinseki, in which a veteran filed an appeal with the VA which sat on it instead of telling the veteran of his error or forewarding the appeal to the appropriate court. From PVA's Legal Issues Page:

"Paralyzed Veterans’ attorneys represented the veteran in the recently decided case of Boone v. Shinseki in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

Since its decision in Henderson (see below), the Court has been struggling with jurisdictional issues such as the one presented by this case: Did a veteran file his appeal on time if he inadvertently filed it with VA instead of the Court, and then VA waited too long to send it to the Court?

While Paralyzed Veterans argued that there are legal reasons the veteran should be allowed to continue his appeal, the Court found in Boone and similar cases that the veteran had actually filed a motion for reconsideration with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. This holding preserves a possible future appeal for the veteran but avoids other jurisdictional questions.

• Read the Boone decision»
• Read the Boone pleadings:Memorandum»Reply»
• Listen to the oral argument»

MORE: http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rights_gc