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Post by foghorn on Mar 30, 2021 16:15:10 GMT -5
I know, they always hire from inside. But hope springs infernal, it's a new admin (your "Hah!" is noted for the record), so here it be:
www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596810400
open to the public too, y'all lovers of futile gestures that ye be!
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Post by aljhopefully on Mar 30, 2021 20:23:59 GMT -5
Buyer beware!
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Post by Pixie on Mar 30, 2021 22:35:14 GMT -5
foghorn I am going to edit the title to your thread from "Jusdge" to "Judge." I think that was your intent. Pixie
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Post by grassgreener on Mar 30, 2021 22:59:30 GMT -5
I know, they always hire from inside. But hope springs infernal, it's a new admin (your "Hah!" is noted for the record), so here it be:
www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596810400
open to the public too, y'all lovers of futile gestures that ye be! I’m game - can anyone shed more light on this job? |
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Post by Pixie on Mar 31, 2021 6:36:11 GMT -5
I know, they always hire from inside. But hope springs infernal, it's a new admin (your "Hah!" is noted for the record), so here it be:
www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596810400
open to the public too, y'all lovers of futile gestures that ye be! I’m game - can anyone shed more light on this job? As you aren't an insider, no need to waste your time or energy on this announcement. Pixie |
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Post by neufenland on Mar 31, 2021 9:21:06 GMT -5
I’m game - can anyone shed more light on this job? As you aren't an insider, no need to waste your time or energy on this announcement. Pixie Pretty much. They have, on occasion, hired folks from the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims or from VA General Counsel, but the vast majority are former Board counsel. It's a really great job if you can get it. Each VLJ has six or seven attorneys writing the cases for them. The attorneys do the first review of the file, tab the evidence, and come up with a suggested disposition in the draft decision. VLJs edit and sign (or send back for substantial revisions). Hearings are by video or in-person (pre-CoViD; I don't know what they do now) and, I think, occur about two to three days a month. Pre-CoViD, Judges would travel a couple of times a year to a VA Regional Office for "Travel Board" hearings. VLJs are evaluated annually and while the don't have a quota per se, they do have a goal that pretty much is a de facto quota. Law is maybe a little more complex than SSA since VA has percentages of disability and there's also the issue of nexus to service. Vast majority of cases are disability-related, but there are occasional cases of entitlement to care/reimbursement of medical expenses and educational entitlement. I worked there for many years and did Acting VLJ, including conducting hearings. It's non-adversarial in that respect and I really enjoyed connecting with the vets and their reps in the hearing room. All that said, it is very, very insider-heavy. But if you don't apply, the answer is always no, right? |
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Post by intothewild on Mar 31, 2021 16:23:53 GMT -5
I know, they always hire from inside. But hope springs infernal, it's a new admin (your "Hah!" is noted for the record), so here it be:
www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596810400
open to the public too, y'all lovers of futile gestures that ye be! I’m game - can anyone shed more light on this job? If you have no experience adjudicating veteran disability appeals I would say your chance is about .00002% of getting it. This is a generalization, but fact is the VLJ corps is almost exclusively made up of people who work for BVA as attorney advisors on the Board. There are a few who were GC as well. It really is mostly an inside gig filled with VA insiders. |
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Post by superalj on Apr 3, 2021 9:34:23 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application.
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Post by intothewild on Apr 3, 2021 11:29:29 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application. It is actually not much different than SSA. In fact veteran disability law is more complicated. |
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Post by neufenland on Apr 5, 2021 13:51:15 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application. . It is supposed to be a very veteran-friendly system as there is a governmental duty to assist in the development of claims. Plenty still get denied, though, and there is a big backlog at the Board of Veterans Appeals and has been for several years. The VLJ (the statutory title is "Board Member") doesn't get involved until the appellate review stage. Initially, a claim is adjudicated by a non-attorney at the Regional Office in whatever state. The vet initiates an appeal after an adverse determination, and assuming no additional review is selected by the veteran at the local RO, it will then go to the BVA in Washington (the "Judge" stage). VLJ either remands for development, grants, grants in part, or denies. Then, if the vet has an adverse decision or partial grant (e.g. while BVA granted a 40 percent rating, max is 100 for that disability), he/she can choose to take it to the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which is a speciality Art. I Court solely dedicated to hearing appeals from the Board (process becomes adversarial once final BVA decision is entered and parties are before CAVC). A few can go to the Federal Circuit from there, too, but that's more infrequent. |
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Post by jimmyjiggles on Apr 5, 2021 17:20:30 GMT -5
Assuming this all goes to insiders, That hopefully means atty-advisor jobs at the VA will open up.
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Post by aljwishhope on Apr 6, 2021 8:09:50 GMT -5
Reply to jimmyjiggles
There is/was a posting for attorney advisor positions at VA last I looked.
Also today on USAjobs there is posting for 30 GS 13-14 attorney positions at Executive Office for Immigration Review.
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Post by neufenland on Apr 6, 2021 10:12:32 GMT -5
Assuming this all goes to insiders, That hopefully means atty-advisor jobs at the VA will open up. They have a standing opening for AA at the Board on USAJOBS, I think. They almost always need folks. |
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Post by aljhopefully on Apr 8, 2021 0:02:17 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application. Fun fact: VLJs predate ALJs, though under a different name (“Board Members”). The difference between veterans law and SSA disability law is understated. A single veteran’s appeal can entail dozens of legal issues of different types. Within disability claims you have service connection, unemployment, rating, and effective date claims. Different types of disabilities may have their own special regs and case law (arthritis, joint conditions, and herbicide-related conditions, for example). Veterans law is supposed to be “veteran friendly,” so CAVC has imposed many procedural requirements on judges and benefits officers. It’s not uncommon for cases to bounce back and forth between the benefits office, BVA, and CAVC on purely procedural grounds...for years. Attorneys have hard quotas they must fill or risk being let go. The longer attorneys work there, the more big and complex the cases get. Attrition rate among attorneys is high. Though VLJs do not have an official quota, they effectively do, and their attorneys’ performance impacts their ability to sign off on enough cases. On the plus side, BVA has the most generous remote work policy I have ever seen. |
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Post by neufenland on Apr 8, 2021 9:37:05 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application. Fun fact: VLJs predate ALJs, though under a different name (“Board Members”). The difference between veterans law and SSA disability law is understated. A single veteran’s appeal can entail dozens of legal issues of different types. Within disability claims you have service connection, unemployment, rating, and effective date claims. Different types of disabilities may have their own special regs and case law (arthritis, joint conditions, and herbicide-related conditions, for example). Veterans law is supposed to be “veteran friendly,” so CAVC has imposed many procedural requirements on judges and benefits officers. It’s not uncommon for cases to bounce back and forth between the benefits office, BVA, and CAVC on purely procedural grounds...for years. Attorneys have hard quotas they must fill or risk being let go. The longer attorneys work there, the more big and complex the cases get. Attrition rate among attorneys is high. Though VLJs do not have an official quota, they effectively do, and their attorneys’ performance impacts their ability to sign off on enough cases. On the plus side, BVA has the most generous remote work policy I have ever seen. This is all true. BVA was formed in 1933, so predates the APA. "Board Member" is still the statutory title ("VLJ" is regulatory). Years ago, each case was adjudicated by a "Law Member," a "Chief Member," and a "Medical Member." Thus, two lawyers and a doctor took a look at every claim. No docs are involved these days (I'd imagine this changed with the advent of CAVC in 1988, but am not 100% sure). Vast, vast majority of appeals are single-judge dispositions, but every now and then there's a panel (if, for instance, one VLJ had a hearing on one issue and another had one on a separate issue, you'd have to convene a panel). Not every case has a hearing, either. In fact, the majority of cases are on the record, but if there is a hearing, then the VLJ who conducted it must obviously be the one to adjudicate it. My understanding is that VLJs will become direct supervisors in the coming months, too. This had not been the case before; although, they did provide feedback to the supervisors on attorney performance. I have also heard that VLJs will be supervisors in the sense that they will do the evaluations, etc. of counsel, but won't do day-to-day things like leave approval or managing the production quota for attorneys (they now have supervisory senior counsel to do that; when I was there, all of those functions were with your Chief VLJ, which doesn't exist as a position anymore). This is scuttlebutt, though, so don't take as gospel. I worked there for almost 12 years and made 14 before changing agencies. I did leave to try other things, but I still very much enjoy veterans law and would love to go back and be a VLJ. The direct contact with veterans is very rewarding (you don't get it as much as counsel unless you can do Acting VLJ once you're senior). I was fortunate to do Acting VLJ a bit and really enjoyed it. |
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Post by garlow on Apr 9, 2021 18:52:53 GMT -5
The VA actually has “Judges? I thought they have some bureaucrats that just automatically approve every application. Fun fact: VLJs predate ALJs, though under a different name (“Board Members”). The difference between veterans law and SSA disability law is understated. A single veteran’s appeal can entail dozens of legal issues of different types. Within disability claims you have service connection, unemployment, rating, and effective date claims. Different types of disabilities may have their own special regs and case law (arthritis, joint conditions, and herbicide-related conditions, for example). Veterans law is supposed to be “veteran friendly,” so CAVC has imposed many procedural requirements on judges and benefits officers. It’s not uncommon for cases to bounce back and forth between the benefits office, BVA, and CAVC on purely procedural grounds...for years. Attorneys have hard quotas they must fill or risk being let go. The longer attorneys work there, the more big and complex the cases get. Attrition rate among attorneys is high. Though VLJs do not have an official quota, they effectively do, and their attorneys’ performance impacts their ability to sign off on enough cases. On the plus side, BVA has the most generous remote work policy I have ever seen. couple questions: I was thinking of applying to the general AAdvisor BVA posting and wanted a sense of what life would be like as I would have to move to another state if they offered me a job. So I'd appreciate any "life as a BVA advisor" thoughts and feedback, as I was hoping to make this a semi-long term career move (if i got offered it), and it concerned me that you said "attrition is high." Why? |
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Post by aljhopefully on Apr 10, 2021 18:41:32 GMT -5
Fun fact: VLJs predate ALJs, though under a different name (“Board Members”). The difference between veterans law and SSA disability law is understated. A single veteran’s appeal can entail dozens of legal issues of different types. Within disability claims you have service connection, unemployment, rating, and effective date claims. Different types of disabilities may have their own special regs and case law (arthritis, joint conditions, and herbicide-related conditions, for example). Veterans law is supposed to be “veteran friendly,” so CAVC has imposed many procedural requirements on judges and benefits officers. It’s not uncommon for cases to bounce back and forth between the benefits office, BVA, and CAVC on purely procedural grounds...for years. Attorneys have hard quotas they must fill or risk being let go. The longer attorneys work there, the more big and complex the cases get. Attrition rate among attorneys is high. Though VLJs do not have an official quota, they effectively do, and their attorneys’ performance impacts their ability to sign off on enough cases. On the plus side, BVA has the most generous remote work policy I have ever seen. This is all true. BVA was formed in 1933, so predates the APA. "Board Member" is still the statutory title ("VLJ" is regulatory). Years ago, each case was adjudicated by a "Law Member," a "Chief Member," and a "Medical Member." Thus, two lawyers and a doctor took a look at every claim. No docs are involved these days (I'd imagine this changed with the advent of CAVC in 1988, but am not 100% sure). Vast, vast majority of appeals are single-judge dispositions, but every now and then there's a panel (if, for instance, one VLJ had a hearing on one issue and another had one on a separate issue, you'd have to convene a panel). Not every case has a hearing, either. In fact, the majority of cases are on the record, but if there is a hearing, then the VLJ who conducted it must obviously be the one to adjudicate it. My understanding is that VLJs will become direct supervisors in the coming months, too. This had not been the case before; although, they did provide feedback to the supervisors on attorney performance. I have also heard that VLJs will be supervisors in the sense that they will do the evaluations, etc. of counsel, but won't do day-to-day things like leave approval or managing the production quota for attorneys (they now have supervisory senior counsel to do that; when I was there, all of those functions were with your Chief VLJ, which doesn't exist as a position anymore). This is scuttlebutt, though, so don't take as gospel. I worked there for almost 12 years and made 14 before changing agencies. I did leave to try other things, but I still very much enjoy veterans law and would love to go back and be a VLJ. The direct contact with veterans is very rewarding (you don't get it as much as counsel unless you can do Acting VLJ once you're senior). I was fortunate to do Acting VLJ a bit and really enjoyed it. Thank you for your service. 12 years at BVA is hard but very consequential work to our veterans and their families. With respect to CVLJ positions, I've heard the same from current BVA attorneys. CVLJs will become line VLJs, and all VLJs will be first line supervisors. I think that makes sense. I've also heard BVA will do away with senior supervising attorneys. That would make the VLJ hiring process...interesting, as most VLJs were senior supervising attorneys at the Board. |
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Post by aljhopefully on Apr 10, 2021 18:53:56 GMT -5
Fun fact: VLJs predate ALJs, though under a different name (“Board Members”). The difference between veterans law and SSA disability law is understated. A single veteran’s appeal can entail dozens of legal issues of different types. Within disability claims you have service connection, unemployment, rating, and effective date claims. Different types of disabilities may have their own special regs and case law (arthritis, joint conditions, and herbicide-related conditions, for example). Veterans law is supposed to be “veteran friendly,” so CAVC has imposed many procedural requirements on judges and benefits officers. It’s not uncommon for cases to bounce back and forth between the benefits office, BVA, and CAVC on purely procedural grounds...for years. Attorneys have hard quotas they must fill or risk being let go. The longer attorneys work there, the more big and complex the cases get. Attrition rate among attorneys is high. Though VLJs do not have an official quota, they effectively do, and their attorneys’ performance impacts their ability to sign off on enough cases. On the plus side, BVA has the most generous remote work policy I have ever seen. couple questions: what specifically makes the remote policy generous, is it the number of days or flexibilty of hours, or what? also, what do the quotas translate to in workload, are we talking 50/60 hour weeks on the regular, or what? I was thinking of applying to the general AAdvisor BVA posting and wanted a sense of what life would be like as I would have to move to another state if they offered me a job. So I'd appreciate any "life as a BVA advisor" thoughts and feedback, as I was hoping to make this a semi-long term career move (if i got offered it), and it concerned me that you said "attrition is high." Why? After working at BVA for a year, you may work from anywhere in the US remotely. Technically, you have to report to DC once every quarter, but they may have done away with that requirement. The 1-year requirement may have also been reduced as, last I've heard, BVA has been downsizing its physical office in DC post-covid. As neufenland expressed, the job can be very rewarding, especially if you have the honor of serving as a VLJ (generally, they are the only ones who have regular contact with veterans). But the attrition rate for attorney-advisors speaks for itself. It's very demanding work in terms of quantity and, over time, complexity of the cases. Management cares about one thing more than anything else, and that's meeting numbers. Coupled with the fact that the job involves sitting down, reading, and typing decisions all day, it's just not the job for everyone. You're constantly "under the clock" and they will fire you for failing to meet your quota (i.e., ask you to resign in lieu of being fired). Some people just crack or "lose it" and resign as they start to fall behind. It's like marathon--not everyone makes it. But a other people love it, especially those who have children to take care of. The remote work policy allows families to make family their first priority. I guess it depends where do you see yourself in life, 10 years from now. If veterans law is your passion, or if you want to take advantage of the remote work policy for personal reasons (family, become a world traveler, etc.), BVA is the place for you. If you see yourself practicing in another area of law or litigating in the courtroom, best not to remain in BVA too long. Last note: if are specifically interested in federal work, BVA could be the best way to getting your foot in the door. It's the only agency I know that hires a lot and regularly. |
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Post by neufenland on Apr 21, 2021 14:22:30 GMT -5
I put in for this. Not my first time and probably won't be my last. I am a current outsider, but former insider...hope that will be enough for an interview. Good luck, everyone.
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Post by bobsmith on May 1, 2021 13:07:32 GMT -5
FYI - I heard it will take atleast 2-3 weeks after the closing date make a determination as to which candidates get interviews. Posting closed on April 20.
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