Full Federal Circuit Upholds Ruling on Timing of Veterans Claims

The full Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed a decision denying an extension to a veteran whose service-related mental disorders kept him from filing disability claims on time.

But the judges were split 6-6 on whether extending the deadline for veterans to file service-connected disability claims is appropriate under different circumstances.

The precedential opinion leaves in place the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s earlier decision in Andrews v. Principi, which barred equitable tolling, the doctrine that pauses a deadline for filing an action when it would be unfair to apply it strictly.

The case is the second one ...