FedCircuitBlog

Today, the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential opinions in two veterans cases and a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board. In the first veterans case, the court affirmed a dismissal. In the second veterans case, the court affirmed in part and dismissed in part a decision denying an earlier effective date for a service-connected condition. In the case appealed form the Merit Systems Protection Board, the court affirmed the dismissal of an appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

Guest Post by James M. Eisenmann

In a series of precedential decisions in 2020 (and early 2021), the Federal Circuit limited the impact of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act — holding that U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) still may review the reasonableness of imposed penalties and that Veterans Affairs (VA) may not use 38 U.S.C. § 714 to remove employees for conduct or performance that occurred prior to the enactment of the Act. See, Sayers v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 954 F.3d 1370 (Fed. Cir. 2020); Harrington v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 981 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2020); and Brenner v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, No. 19-2032 (Fed. Cir. March 9, 2021).

This month we highlight two scholarly articles related to the Federal Circuit.

• A Balanced Consideration of the Federal Circuit’s Choice-of-Law Rule by Jennifer E. Sturiale
• Review of Recent Veterans Law Decisions of the Federal Circuit by Angela Drake, Yelena Duterte, and Stacey-Rae Simcox

Here are the details.