Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 *office on the* weekends to meet the quota.

[Anonymous]

odds on the case quota going up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:odds on the case quota going up?

Y'all better turn your production up to 11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:odds on the case quota going up?

Y'all better turn your production up to 11.

The Court of Appeals reverses and remands approximately 75 percent of the decisions issued by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Any increase in the quota, even to 3.5 decisions a week, will dramatically increase the court remand rate.

https://siepr.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/19-005.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:odds on the case quota going up?

Y'all better turn your production up to 11.

The Court of Appeals reverses and remands approximately 75 percent of the decisions issued by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Any increase in the quota, even to 3.5 decisions a week, will dramatically increase the court remand rate.

https://siepr.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/19-005.pdf

You know and I know that management does not care about that. The only thing they care about is 1) how many decisions they pump out and,
More recently, 2) how many hearings they conduct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:odds on the case quota going up?

Y'all better turn your production up to 11.

The Court of Appeals reverses and remands approximately 75 percent of the decisions issued by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Any increase in the quota, even to 3.5 decisions a week, will dramatically increase the court remand rate.

https://siepr.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/19-005.pdf

You know and I know that management does not care about that. The only thing they care about is 1) how many decisions they pump out and,
More recently, 2) how many hearings they conduct.

I’m aware of that. I don’t expect any changes unless the VA disability process becomes adversarial. The current non-adversarial process means that disability claimants benefit from a high production rate. I mean, if I were representing VA disability claimants, I would want BVA attorneys to crank out as many decisions as possibility, as it’s much easier to grant a claim than it is to deny it. The real losers are: 1) BVA attorneys who face incredibly high quotas; and 2) taxpayers who must pay all the claims that are improperly granted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:odds on the case quota going up?

Y'all better turn your production up to 11.

The Court of Appeals reverses and remands approximately 75 percent of the decisions issued by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Any increase in the quota, even to 3.5 decisions a week, will dramatically increase the court remand rate.

https://siepr.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/19-005.pdf

You know and I know that management does not care about that. The only thing they care about is 1) how many decisions they pump out and,
More recently, 2) how many hearings they conduct.

I’m aware of that. I don’t expect any changes unless the VA disability process becomes adversarial. The current non-adversarial process means that disability claimants benefit from a high production rate. I mean, if I were representing VA disability claimants, I would want BVA attorneys to crank out as many decisions as possibility, as it’s much easier to grant a claim than it is to deny it. The real losers are: 1) BVA attorneys who face incredibly high quotas; and 2) taxpayers who must pay all the claims that are improperly granted.

What is incredibly sad is that the Agency doesn't care about the institutional knowledge it loses every day when attorneys and judges leave for less stressful environments.

[Anonymous]

Are attorneys still promoted to GS-14 at the Board automatically? How do step increases work once you hit GS-14?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are attorneys still promoted to GS-14 at the Board automatically? How do step increases work once you hit GS-14?

BVA attorneys positions have promotion POTENTIAL to GS-14. You start off at G-11. If you meet your quota, you go up in grade every year to GS-13. You will spend two years at GS-13 (step 1 and 2) and then go up to GS-14. Promotions are NOT automatic. You must meet your quota. Those who are unable to do so will have their promotions delayed and will eventually be fired. Step increases at GS-14 are the same as other GS agencies, but these are also dependent on meeting your quota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are attorneys still promoted to GS-14 at the Board automatically? How do step increases work once you hit GS-14?

BVA attorneys positions have promotion POTENTIAL to GS-14. You start off at G-11. If you meet your quota, you go up in grade every year to GS-13. You will spend two years at GS-13 (step 1 and 2) and then go up to GS-14. Promotions are NOT automatic. You must meet your quota. Those who are unable to do so will have their promotions delayed and will eventually be fired. Step increases at GS-14 are the same as other GS agencies, but these are also dependent on meeting your quota.

Next question - in case of government shutdown, are Board attorneys essential? Do essential employees still get paid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are attorneys still promoted to GS-14 at the Board automatically? How do step increases work once you hit GS-14?

BVA attorneys positions have promotion POTENTIAL to GS-14. You start off at G-11. If you meet your quota, you go up in grade every year to GS-13. You will spend two years at GS-13 (step 1 and 2) and then go up to GS-14. Promotions are NOT automatic. You must meet your quota. Those who are unable to do so will have their promotions delayed and will eventually be fired. Step increases at GS-14 are the same as other GS agencies, but these are also dependent on meeting your quota.

Next question - in case of government shutdown, are Board attorneys essential? Do essential employees still get paid?

Unlike most other agencies, Congress gives VA multi-year appropriations. This means that VA will not need to shutdown on October 1. During the last shutdown, BVA attorneys worked during the shutdown and were paid for their labor. I expect the same this year.

[Anonymous]

Is it still very hard to make quota ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it still very hard to make quota ?

The quota system at the Board has always been challenging. But, your success or failure largely depends on the judge you are assigned to. Attorneys who are assigned to judges who grant nearly all of their cases do very well, as grants of disability benefits can be written very quickly. If you are assigned to one of those judges, you will have no problem meeting the quota with a 40 hour workweek. Other judges tend to deny most of their cases. Attorneys who are assigned to these judges will generally have to work 50-60 hours a week to meet the quota. Keep in mind that even if you like your judge, there is no guarantee that you will stay with that judge forever - attorneys get reassigned all the time. The quota will increase in FY2022.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

How does one measure one-half of a decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

How does one measure one-half of a decision?

It’s not measured that way. The current quota of 3 signed decisions a week means that the quota is 156 signed decisions a year (3*52=156). Next fiscal year, the quota will increase to 182 signed decisions a year (3.5*52=182). “Signed decisions” means decisions that are approved by your judge. Decisions that you submit, but are not approved, do not count towards your quota. In order to attain 3.5 signed decisions a week, you will need to submit four or five decisions a week.