Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

Anyone know how step promotions work at the Board? Do attorneys max out at GS-14 step 1, for example, or now potentially GS-13 step 1, or are step increases given as a promotion after meeting the yearly quota and maxing out at the GS level. If so, how many steps do they typically give out yearly? Weird that management treats attorneys so poorly. I’m sure the same amount of work can be done by doing everything they can to keep attorneys happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how step promotions work at the Board? Do attorneys max out at GS-14 step 1, for example, or now potentially GS-13 step 1, or are step increases given as a promotion after meeting the yearly quota and maxing out at the GS level. If so, how many steps do they typically give out yearly? Weird that management treats attorneys so poorly. I’m sure the same amount of work can be done by doing everything they can to keep attorneys happy.

In the past, attorneys maxed out at the GS-14 level. However, the new attorneys hires will now max out at the GS-13 level. The new attorney hires are no longer entitled to be non-competitively promoted to GS-14. So, once you get to GS-13, you go up a step every year until GS-13, step 3. After step 3, you aren’t eligible for yearly step increases. It takes 18 years to get to step 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how step promotions work at the Board? Do attorneys max out at GS-14 step 1, for example, or now potentially GS-13 step 1, or are step increases given as a promotion after meeting the yearly quota and maxing out at the GS level. If so, how many steps do they typically give out yearly? Weird that management treats attorneys so poorly. I’m sure the same amount of work can be done by doing everything they can to keep attorneys happy.

The management strategy is incredibly stupid and would not be tolerated in a for profit environment. By treating everyone so poorly, you are encouraging people to run for the exits. The massive frequent turnover must cost an enormous amount of money, in addition to lost institutional knowledge. Normal turnover happens in every organization. But, in addition to the large number of staff attorneys who have left, in the last few years, some high level staff have left due to the poor work environment. We have also lost judges due to the work environment. If you want a case study in how to run an organization into the ground and burn through massive amounts of money, the BVA is a great example.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

They're advertising for the GS-11 jobs again, topping out at 13. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would consider these jobs.

[Anonymous]

Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

This is meant to be a jobs program for attorneys that need to service their debt but unable to find a job even in the most gutter PI mills. No one goes to law and even heard about VA claims, let alone develops a passion for this type of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

This is meant to be a jobs program for attorneys that need to service their debt but unable to find a job even in the most gutter PI mills. No one goes to law and even heard about VA claims, let alone develops a passion for this type of work.

What? Are people not passionate about pumping out three decisions a week regarding whether a veteran’s arthritis is related to military service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

This is meant to be a jobs program for attorneys that need to service their debt but unable to find a job even in the most gutter PI mills. No one goes to law and even heard about VA claims, let alone develops a passion for this type of work.

What? Are people not passionate about pumping out three decisions a week regarding whether a veteran’s arthritis is related to military service?

Point taken but it’s not a jobs program. If it was a jobs program there wouldn’t be so many people who are forced out due to an unreasonable quota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

This is meant to be a jobs program for attorneys that need to service their debt but unable to find a job even in the most gutter PI mills. No one goes to law and even heard about VA claims, let alone develops a passion for this type of work.

What? Are people not passionate about pumping out three decisions a week regarding whether a veteran’s arthritis is related to military service?

Point taken but it’s not a jobs program. If it was a jobs program there wouldn’t be so many people who are forced out due to an unreasonable quota.

So really it’s because VA likes having excepted attorneys who don’t get MSPB protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're advertising for the GS-11 jobs again, topping out at 13. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would consider these jobs.

There are probably on-line exercises you can do to expand your imagination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

You don’t seem to understand how many different agencies have a very similar set-up for administrative rulings with initial rulings made by specialists and appeals going to attorneys. Much of the law is file review, especially in administrative jobs in the federal government. The file is where the evidence is.

BVA files are extensive and the medical records are repetitive and depressing and the quota is a challenge for some. But the basics of admin law run across the fed gvt executive branch agencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does OPM allow these jobs to be classified as attorney positions to begin with? It’s claims reviewing. This work used to be done by paralegals. Did the work change, or did the agencies just decide they could hire faster using excepted attorney positions?

The work did not change. Even today, non-attorneys reviewers still review VA claims and make the initial decision as to whether to pay the claim. If a claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to BVA, where an attorney and judge will review it. The attorney reviewers at BVA perform the same work as the non-attorneys reviewers.

and, essentially, the "judges" do the same thing as well, except they conduct hearings and of course they are the ones signing decisions. but its still file review.

You don’t seem to understand how many different agencies have a very similar set-up for administrative rulings with initial rulings made by specialists and appeals going to attorneys. Much of the law is file review, especially in administrative jobs in the federal government. The file is where the evidence is.

BVA files are extensive and the medical records are repetitive and depressing and the quota is a challenge for some. But the basics of admin law run across the fed gvt executive branch agencies.

I disagree.

Yes, many agencies utilize an administrative process, but rarely do attorneys and non-attorneys perform the same duties. SSA is the only other agency that utilizes a similar mass scale adjudication process as VA. In the context of SSA disability, non-attorneys initially adjudicate disability claims. If the claimant is dissatisfied with the initial decision, he or she can appeal to an SSA ALJ. SSA ALJs do not write their own decisions. Rather, their decisions are written by staff members known as "decision writers," who can be either attorneys or non-attorneys (both attorneys and paralegals perform the same duties). If a claimant is dissatisfied with the SSA ALJ's decision, he or she can appeal to the Appeals Council, where their claims are also reviewed by analysts, who sometimes are attorneys (but not always). Like SSA, VA attorneys review the same files as non-attorneys and render decisions using extensive boilerplate language. I agree that VA disability claims have more extensive records than SSA disability records, but its debatable whether VA disability adjudication is real legal work. I mean, no one goes to law school for the opportunity to copy and paste boilerplate language into three decisions a week.