Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an atty there...and I think program specialist is someone who deals with admin issues (eg. hearing team etc).

Then I doubt their life is nearly as bad as the life of an attorney. They probably have some sort of work quota they need to fulfill, but they cannot possibly be subject to the same harassment, intimidation, and abuse that the attorneys are subjected to on a daily basis.

This thread is so sad. I read a WSJ article claiming Miami law grads graduate with about $300k in debt but only make maybe $65k. Is that how much the VA pays? I would say I hope they join BVA and get PSLF but you all make it sound like it takes heroics to make it more than a few years.

It does take heroics to make it more than a few years.

VA pays GS pay scale. I believe licensed attorneys still start at GS-11 and progress to 14. For a period of time they also hired non licensed law grads as "law clerks" at GS-9, but I do not know if that is still happening This is the standard pay scale for attorneys in most agencies. Some agencies have non supervisory GS-15 positions, but, without a special skill you're unlikely to get that at most places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an atty there...and I think program specialist is someone who deals with admin issues (eg. hearing team etc).

Then I doubt their life is nearly as bad as the life of an attorney. They probably have some sort of work quota they need to fulfill, but they cannot possibly be subject to the same harassment, intimidation, and abuse that the attorneys are subjected to on a daily basis.

This thread is so sad. I read a WSJ article claiming Miami law grads graduate with about $300k in debt but only make maybe $65k. Is that how much the VA pays? I would say I hope they join BVA and get PSLF but you all make it sound like it takes heroics to make it more than a few years.

Maybe this thread will help people make more informed decisions before agreeing to work at this place. Given the supply of underemployed and desperate lawyers out there I doubt it will matter much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an atty there...and I think program specialist is someone who deals with admin issues (eg. hearing team etc).

Then I doubt their life is nearly as bad as the life of an attorney. They probably have some sort of work quota they need to fulfill, but they cannot possibly be subject to the same harassment, intimidation, and abuse that the attorneys are subjected to on a daily basis.

This thread is so sad. I read a WSJ article claiming Miami law grads graduate with about $300k in debt but only make maybe $65k. Is that how much the VA pays? I would say I hope they join BVA and get PSLF but you all make it sound like it takes heroics to make it more than a few years.

Maybe this thread will help people make more informed decisions before agreeing to work at this place. Given the supply of underemployed and desperate lawyers out there I doubt it will matter much.

this is why it’s hard to leave doc review because it’s either BVA or hanging your own shingle

[Anonymous]

BVA once provided attorneys with paid overtime, which was nice considering the unpaid overtime that must be worked to make the quota. It helped pay the bills. No more. Be prepared to work 60+ hours and feeling stressed over the working conditions when you’re not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BVA once provided attorneys with paid overtime, which was nice considering the unpaid overtime that must be worked to make the quota. It helped pay the bills. No more. Be prepared to work 60+ hours and feeling stressed over the working conditions when you’re not working.

and waking up at 4 am in a panic because of the quota. For very few people, the BVA working environment is okay, but for most people, it is a truly miserable and lonely place to work and a waste of your legal career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BVA once provided attorneys with paid overtime, which was nice considering the unpaid overtime that must be worked to make the quota. It helped pay the bills. No more. Be prepared to work 60+ hours and feeling stressed over the working conditions when you’re not working.

and waking up at 4 am in a panic because of the quota. For very few people, the BVA working environment is okay, but for most people, it is a truly miserable and lonely place to work and a waste of your legal career.

I hear that the Chairman wants to raise the quota for FY22. Apparently, the Chairman wants the Board to render more than 110k decisions in the upcoming fiscal year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BVA once provided attorneys with paid overtime, which was nice considering the unpaid overtime that must be worked to make the quota. It helped pay the bills. No more. Be prepared to work 60+ hours and feeling stressed over the working conditions when you’re not working.

and waking up at 4 am in a panic because of the quota. For very few people, the BVA working environment is okay, but for most people, it is a truly miserable and lonely place to work and a waste of your legal career.

I hear that the Chairman wants to raise the quota for FY22. Apparently, the Chairman wants the Board to render more than 110k decisions in the upcoming fiscal year.

That wouldn't surprise me. That's the kind of small minded leadership that we have at the Board. numbers numbers numbers because Congress wants numbers numbers numbers. Nobody who is in power is willing to sit down and explain how that is bad for morale and ultimately bad for the Veterans.

[Anonymous]

That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

No. AFGE 17, which represents VA Central Office employees (including BVA attorneys), was essentially inoperative during the Trump Administration, as Trump heavily restricted union representation time. The union is becoming more active now that Biden has restored full union rights. Hopefully, the union can do something about management's plan to significantly increase the quota in FY2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

No. AFGE 17, which represents VA Central Office employees (including BVA attorneys), was essentially inoperative during the Trump Administration, as Trump heavily restricted union representation time. The union is becoming more active now that Biden has restored full union rights. Hopefully, the union can do something about management's plan to significantly increase the quota in FY2022.

has this plan been expressed publicly by management?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

No. AFGE 17, which represents VA Central Office employees (including BVA attorneys), was essentially inoperative during the Trump Administration, as Trump heavily restricted union representation time. The union is becoming more active now that Biden has restored full union rights. Hopefully, the union can do something about management's plan to significantly increase the quota in FY2022.

has this plan been expressed publicly by management?

I think they kind of hinted at it during Town Hall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

No. AFGE 17, which represents VA Central Office employees (including BVA attorneys), was essentially inoperative during the Trump Administration, as Trump heavily restricted union representation time. The union is becoming more active now that Biden has restored full union rights. Hopefully, the union can do something about management's plan to significantly increase the quota in FY2022.

has this plan been expressed publicly by management?

Yes. The Chairman has notified the union that she wants the Board to render 111,500 decisions in the upcoming fiscal year. That's a year over year increase of approximately 20,000 decisions. As the Board has approximately 850 attorneys on staff, attorneys will each be expected to draft an additional 24 decisions in FY2022. The quota for for FY2022 will be even higher than the quota in FY2018.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That survey is from FY 2018, is there a more current one?

No. AFGE 17, which represents VA Central Office employees (including BVA attorneys), was essentially inoperative during the Trump Administration, as Trump heavily restricted union representation time. The union is becoming more active now that Biden has restored full union rights. Hopefully, the union can do something about management's plan to significantly increase the quota in FY2022.

has this plan been expressed publicly by management?

Yes. The Chairman has notified the union that she wants the Board to render 111,500 decisions in the upcoming fiscal year. That's a year over year increase of approximately 20,000 decisions. As the Board has approximately 850 attorneys on staff, attorneys will each be expected to draft an additional 24 decisions in FY2022. The quota for for FY2022 will be even higher than the quota in FY2018.

3.5 a week rather than 3

[Anonymous]

3.5 a week! — they need to start doling out some paid overtime then. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3.5 a week! — they need to start doling out some paid overtime then. Ridiculous.

They won't pay attorneys overtime to meet the base quota. You have to work unpaid overtime if you can't meet the quota within the standard 40 hour work week. Fortunately, the Board's transition to full time telework means that attorneys can work 24/7 from home to meet the quota. That's a huge improvement from the past when attorneys had to stay late at the office and/or go into the weekends to meet the quota.