The National Veterans Legal Services Program Message on Coronavirus March 2020 Dear Friends, First, thank you for being part of the National Veterans Legal Services Program community. Based on the evolving coronavirus conditions, we would like to inform you … [more]
Released 3/21/20 | Tags:
NVLSP Reinstates Request for Injunction After Pentagon Reneges On Agreement To Put All DRB and Correction Board Decisions Back Online For Public View FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 18, 2020 WASHINGTON – On February 3, 2020, the National Veterans Legal Services Program’s (NVLSP) filed … [more]
Released 2/18/20 | Tags:
On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) unanimously denied the VA’s motion to stay VA’s obligation to implement the CAVC’s decision in Wolfe v. Wilkie requiring VA to reimburse veterans for emergency medical expenses incurred at non-VA facilities that are not covered by the veteran’s private insurance. The VA’s motion sought to allow it to withhold all reimbursement payments from veterans until the VA appeals the CAVC’s Wolfe decision to a higher court and obtains a decision from that court -- a period that is likely to take at least one year. [more]
Released 1/29/20 | Tags:
In response to the National Veterans Legal Services Program’s (NVLSP) motion for preliminary injunction, the Pentagon has agreed to promptly make all past decisions of the Discharge Review Boards (DRBs) and Boards for Correction of Military Records (BCMRs) (collectively, the Boards) publicly available. This agreement includes the Secretaries of the military departments, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Secretary of Defense. NVLSP filed its lawsuit and injunction motion with the pro bono assistance of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP on Jan. 2, 2020. [more]
Released 1/17/20 | Tags:
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) today announced the release of the 2019-2020 edition of its Veterans Benefits Manual. [more]
Released 1/10/20 | Tags:
On January 02, 2020, the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) filed a complaint in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Secretaries of the military departments for unlawfully removing from public view all of the past decisions made by defendants’ Discharge Review Boards (DRBs) and Boards for Correction of Military Records (BCMRs) (collectively, the Boards). The other defendants include the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Secretary of Defense. [more]
Released 1/3/20 | Tags:
Delays of More Than 18 months Said to Exceed Deadline Set By Congress
On Dec. 16, 2019, The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), together with Mr. Walter Calhoun and Mr. John Doe, filed a class action complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accusing the U.S. Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force of consistently failing to meet their statutory timeliness requirements to decide claims filed by veterans and servicemembers for correction of their individual military records as mandated by Congress in 10 U.S.C. § 1557. [more]
Released 12/18/19 | Tags:
Non-VA Facilities -- Class Action Order Requires VA to Make Billions of Dollars in Reimbursement Payments to Hundreds of Thousands of Veterans --
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) ruled in a case styled Wolfe v. Wilkie, that VA’s 2018 reimbursement regulation violates the Emergency Care Fairness Act of 2010 (ECFA) that requires VA to reimburse veterans for the emergency medical expenses they incur at non-VA facilities that are not covered by the veteran’s private insurance. [more]
Released 9/10/19 | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
WASHINGTON -The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s signing of H.R.299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, into law. [more]
Released 6/27/19 | Tags: Agent Orange, Class Actions, Congressional Legislation, Veteran's Benefits
On June 13, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) certified its first class action. The case, styled Godsey v. Wilkie, was a petition for extraordinary relief brought by Covington & Burling LLP and the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP). The petition was filed on behalf of veterans James A. Godsey, Jr., Jeffery S. Henke, Thomas J. Marshall, Pamela Whitfield. It sought relief for all similarly situated VA benefits claimants who have filed an appeal to VA’s highest tribunal, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board), and since have suffered extended delays waiting for VA to begin moving their appeals forward in a process called “certification.” [more]
Released 6/14/19 | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits