Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the problem with erring on the side of awarding benefits? No need to explain as much since the veteran unlikely to appeal. That is how SSA writers make quota. Not trying to downplay how bad it is at VA but just want to understand why the shortcuts that work elsewhere don't work there. Is there more sua sponte review even of grants? More statistical QC?

BVA judges don't like granting too many cases because a high grant rate could put the judge on upper management's radar. The preferred method to meet the quota is to remand as many cases as possible, as remands are much easier to write and count as a closed case. Unfortunately, this remand at all cost mentality harms veterans because their cases remain unresolved for decades. I've seen a number of veterans die in the interim.

Unfortunately you get all kinds of judges. Some are grant oriented and will bend over backwards to grant claims, some are the opposite and will bend over backwards to deny, and some hate denying so they will remand everything, but I’d say most are just trying to get by and will find the path of least resistance. Unfortunately as a decision writing attorney the disposition of your assigned judge is completely out of your control. You’re not an independent professional given latitude to do what you think is right. You’re more like a nameless faceless drone whose job is to make your judge happy and spit out as many decisions as possible.

I agree that BVA decisions can be arbitrary and based on the whims/moods of individual judges. This is particularly true since BVA decisions have no precedential value. Because BVA judges are not bound by prior BVA decisions (or even their own prior decisions), the Board reaches different conclusions in many cases even when the facts are strikingly similar. That's probably why the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims remands approximately 80 percent of BVA decisions due to serious factual or legal errors.

[Anonymous]

True this job can be performed fully remote after a year??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True this job can be performed fully remote after a year??

yes, although management "reserves the right" to call you back into the office. But its never happened to my knowledge. Right now since nobody is in the building, even the new people started out being fully remote, but I assume that will change at some point once the pandemic is over.

[Anonymous]

What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

Like a lot of agencies during the pandemic, BVA uses an all virtual hiring process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

after reading this entire thread someone is still considering working for BVA???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

after reading this entire thread someone is still considering working for BVA???

Desperation can drive people to do extreme things such as murder, prostitution, and seeking employment at the Board.

[Anonymous]

Ha! I see there is a current job announcement- closes in sept. Does that mean they won’t review apps until the fall or is it rolling? Is this one of their mass hiring a?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha! I see there is a current job announcement- closes in sept. Does that mean they won’t review apps until the fall or is it rolling? Is this one of their mass hiring a?

Check the vacancy announcement. I assume the announcement is rolling as the Board is always hiring attorneys - the attrition rate is very high. The Board is desperate for warm bodies. If you can pass the Board’s basic writing and literacy test, you are virtually guaranteed the job. But, think twice about accepting a job offer at the Board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

after reading this entire thread someone is still considering working for BVA???

Desperation can drive people to do extreme things such as murder, prostitution, and seeking employment at the Board.

sad state of affairs really. "fed gov" life sounds great until you're actually in the mud with the rest of us. Past your initial six months where everyone leaves on time, reality hits and you have to work 50-70 hours a week for GS-12 pay with a side of extreme gaslighting and isolation, leading to severe anxiety every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the post-covid hiring process for the BVA attorney role? Any insight appreciated.

after reading this entire thread someone is still considering working for BVA???

Desperation can drive people to do extreme things such as murder, prostitution, and seeking employment at the Board.

sad state of affairs really. "fed gov" life sounds great until you're actually in the mud with the rest of us. Past your initial six months where everyone leaves on time, reality hits and you have to work 50-70 hours a week for GS-12 pay with a side of extreme gaslighting and isolation, leading to severe anxiety every day.

I couldn’t agree more.

[Anonymous]

How quickly does one get promoted from GS12 to 13 in this position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How quickly does one get promoted from GS12 to 13 in this position?

You have to go from GS-11 to GS-12 first before you are eligible for GS-13. Promotions to the next grade are not guaranteed and dependent on meeting the quota.

[Anonymous]

I've skimmed the first few dozen most recent BVA decisions. As posted above, the majority are remands. What is the quota in concrete terms? How many draft decisions would a newly out of training GS-11 be expected to produce per week? After a year on the job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've skimmed the first few dozen most recent BVA decisions. As posted above, the majority are remands. What is the quota in concrete terms? How many draft decisions would a newly out of training GS-11 be expected to produce per week? After a year on the job?

During your first six months at the Board, you won't be on production. However, when that time ends, you will have the same quota as everyone else regardless of grade level or years at the Board. I left the Board in FY2019, and back then the quota was 3.25 signed decisions a week (169 signed decisions a year) - by signed, I mean that only decisions that your judge approves will count. Decisions that you submit, but your judge does not sign, do not count. In terms of raw numbers, you will need to submit approximately four to five draft decisions every week in order to get 3.25 signed decisions a week - if you submit less than four or five decisions a week, you are taking a huge risk of not getting 3.25 signed decisions/week, as the judges at the Board routinely return drafts for revision. The average case file has between 200 to 1000 documents, with each document containing anywhere from 1 to 1,000+ pages. Each and every decision that you submit will be graded by your judge on a scale of 1 to 5 (highest score). Any score less than 3 is unacceptable and repeatedly receiving low scores is grounds for termination.

You will need to hit the ground running when you start production as the Board routinely fires attorneys at the 10 month mark. This means that you have less than four months after you begin production to demonstrate your competence or you will be fired/forced to resign (the decision to fire someone is initially made around the seven or eight month mark, while the actual firing occurs at the 10 month mark) .

The Board is a tough place to work at and far from cushy. That's why I left my BVA job to go work at another agency that also offers full time telework.