VETERANS COURT ON RECORD PACE – CUTTING DOWN THE BACKLOG OF CASES

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VETERANS COURT ON RECORD PACE – CUTTING DOWN THE BACKLOG OF CASES

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is deciding more cases than ever, after recalling two judges to the bench earlier this year, and is now on track to issue 30 percent more decisions than any year in the Court’s history. That feat is earning praise from chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

"At a hearing this past July, I cautioned that if trends continued without action, such as bringing back retired judges, the number of pending cases could reach 10,000 in the next five years. Since then, two retired judges have been brought back to work and the Court is getting back on track. This is wonderful news for veterans," said Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

According to numbers released to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Thursday, with 7 full time judges and 2 recalled judges now deciding cases, the Court is on track to handle over 4400 cases this fiscal year, which is almost 800 more cases than the Court is expected to take in.

Other federal courts regularly recall judges, including the U.S. Tax Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Earlier this year, Chief Judge William Greene of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims became the first chief judge of that court to recall retired judges.

"I was very pleased that the Court decided to use this valuable resource – to bring back recall-eligible judges – to help them deal with the huge number of cases the Court has been receiving. It’s clear that Chief Judge Greene, all of the judges and the entire Court staff have been working very hard to make sure that veterans receive timely decisions," Craig said.

In July of this year the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs conducted a hearing on the backlog issue, at which Craig and other committee members pushed the Court to recall its eligible retired judges. Under current federal guidelines, the retired judges receive the same pay as active judges – currently $165,200 a year – so they can be called back to work if the Court needs additional help to deal with its workload.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims reviews decisions rendered by VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Most of the Court’s decisions deal with veterans’ claims for disability compensation.