The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issue dozens of precedential decisions each year that affect hundreds of thousands of veterans, dependents, and survivors who have claims before VA regional offices and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court also issues decisions that impact VA benefits. Without an understanding of recent caselaw, you will be less effective in developing strategies and arguments to help win VA claims. These court decisions could provide new ways for you to help claimants establish entitlement to VA benefits, but might also invalidate arguments you’ve made for claims that are awaiting a decision by the VA.

This webinar will highlight the most important changes in veterans law stemming from court decisions issued from November 2024 through May 2025, with a focus on how advocates can use these developments to the advantage of the claimants they represent. By the end of this webinar, you should understand:

• Whether the VA is required to consider a claim for disability pension to also include a claim for disability compensation, and vice versa
• Whether a supplemental claim must be filed on VA Form 20-0995 and, if not, whether an application for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability can be recognized as a supplemental claim
• How a claimant can challenge the Board’s denial of a motion to advance an appeal on the docket
• Whether the VA must discount the ameliorative effects of medication when evaluating musculoskeletal disabilities
• What the CAVC must do to comply with the requirement that it “take due account” of the VA’s application of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule
• Court holdings on many other important issues