Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. There are currently no pending cases previously decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, since our last update, one waiver of the right to respond to a petition was filed in a pro se case and one brief in opposition was filed in a veterans case. Here are the details.
Pending Petitions
Waiver of the Right to Respond
Since our last update, one waiver of the right to respond to a petition was filed in Lopez v. United States, a pro se case.
Brief in Opposition
Since our last update, one brief in opposition was filed in Steele v. Collins, a patent case. As a reminder, the petition in this case presented the following question:
- “Under the statutory and regulatory notice requirements governing VA decisions since 1990, is the VA permitted to retroactively deem a claim ‘implicitly denied’ when the agency never issued a notice explicitly setting forth the claim at issue or the reason for its denial?”
Now, in its brief in opposition, the government contends “[r]eview is particularly unwarranted because the 2017 amendments to Section 5104(b) [of Title 38], which apply to every veterans’ benefits decision rendered since February 19, 2019, replaced the legal framework that the court of appeals applied in this case.” It further argues that the “VA’s 1991 decision and letter . . . were sufficient to give petitioner notice of the denial of his claim and the reasons for that denial.”