NVLSP, Veterans Groups File Amicus Brief, Urge Supreme Court Review Federal Circuit’s Skaar Decision

On March 30, 2023, with the help of attorneys from Finnegan, the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) and other veterans' advocacy organizations, filed an amicus brief in Skaar v. McDonough urging the Supreme Court of the United States to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision in the case. The Federal Circuit's Skaar decision limits class membership to only those who have secured a final Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) decision that has been, or can still be, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) within the 120-day appeal period. This extremely narrow window essentially prevents veterans who obtain a CAVC decision invalidating a VA benefits policy from forcing the VA to apply that decision to numerous other veterans whose benefits were denied based on the invalidated policy.

NVLSP’s brief argues that the Federal Circuit’s decision would doom the ability of veterans who challenge in court the legality of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy that adversely affects entitlement to VA benefits from obtaining class relief on behalf of all the veterans harmed by the challenged policy. The brief highlights the critical value that class actions have had in the past and should have in the future for ensuring that similarly situated veterans are able to receive relief when systemic VA failures and delays prevent them from receiving the benefits to which they are entitled.  

Finnegan attorney Alexander Harding said, "For years, the veteran’s class action has helped groups like NVLSP, IAVA, and VVA ensure that no veteran is left behind. It was a privilege to work with these organizations and we join them in looking forward to the Supreme Court’s response.”

Read NVLSP, Veterans Groups File Amicus Brief, Urge Supreme Court Review Federal Circuit’s Skaar Decision