Clouse v. Wilkie
Clouse v. Wilkie
Opinion
NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________
RENEE D. CLOUSE, Claimant-Appellant
v.
ROBERT WILKIE, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee ______________________
2017-2087 ______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No. 16-140, Judge Coral Wong Pi- etsch. ______________________
Decided: October 9, 2018 ______________________
CHRIS ATTIG, Attig Steel, PLLC, Little Rock, AR, ar- gued for claimant-appellant.
DAVID PEHLKE, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washing- ton, DC, argued for respondent-appellee. Also represent- ed by CLAUDIA BURKE, ROBERT EDWARD KIRSCHMAN, JR., CHAD A. READLER; MARTIE ADELMAN, BRIAN D. GRIFFIN, 2 CLOUSE v. WILKIE
Office of General Counsel, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. ______________________
Before LOURIE, CHEN, and STOLL, Circuit Judges. STOLL, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Renee D. Clouse appeals from a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims dismissing her appeal from a decision by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals for lack of jurisdiction. We have juris- diction pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7292(c). Because there was no final decision over which the Veterans Court could exercise jurisdiction, we affirm. The parties do not dispute that the Board has repeat- edly failed to provide adequate notice of its orders throughout the pendency of Petitioner’s claims. We understand that these errors, which have caused substan- tial delay in the resolution of Petitioner’s claims, will be resolved. In addition, the Government confirmed during oral argument that Petitioner should not be prevented from presenting additional evidence to the Board prior to the issuance of a renewed final decision. Because the Board decision that formed the basis for Petitioner’s appeal was properly vacated before a notice of appeal was filed, however, the Veterans Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The decision of the Veterans Court to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdic- tion is affirmed. AFFIRMED COSTS No costs.
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished