The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issue dozens of precedential decisions each year that impact tens of thousands of claims before VA regional offices and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Without an understanding of recent caselaw, you will be less effective in developing strategies and arguments to help veterans win their claims. These court decisions could provide new avenues for you to help a veteran establish entitlement to VA benefits, but might also invalidate arguments you made in the past.

This webinar will highlight the most important changes in Veterans law that have arisen from court decisions issued from September 2021 through February 2022, with a focus on how advocates can use these developments to the advantage of the veterans they represent.

By the end of this webinar, you should understand:
• The Federal Circuit’s new explanation of the “benefit of the doubt” standard of proof and whether evidence not in equipoise can satisfy that standard
• Whether a claimant must be present at a BVA hearing for the claimant’s representative to elicit sworn testimony from witnesses
• If and when the VA must consider blood pressure readings prior to the date of claim when rating hypertension
• Whether a veteran in the custody of a state hospital in connection with a criminal judgment is eligible for TDIU
• The standard the VA must apply when deciding whether to refer the issue of extraschedular TDIU to the Director of Compensation.
• Whether the VA must follow its special procedures for rating reductions when a diagnostic code specifically calls for a reduction under certain circumstances
• And court holdings on many other important issues!