Cravath and NYU Veterans Legal Services Project Secure Win for Veteran Seeking Disability Compensation

On May 31, 2023, Judge Greenberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled in favor of veteran and Cravath pro bono client Jason D. McCoy.

Judge Greenberg’s opinion sets aside and remands the decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, which denied Mr. McCoy’s claims to compensation for current disabilities that are connected to injuries he suffered while serving in the military. The Board concluded that Mr. McCoy’s current disabilities are in fact not connected to his in-service injuries, and reached that conclusion by relying upon the opinion of a medical examiner selected by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In briefs filed on October 31, 2022 and March 3, 2023, the Cravath team argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims that the Board-appointed examiner improperly ignored many years’ worth of medical reports in the record that supported a connection between Mr. McCoy’s current disabilities and his in-service injuries, and that consequently the examiner’s opinion was inadequate, and the Board’s choice to rely on that opinion was erroneous. After considering the briefing, the Court sided with Cravath and concluded that the Board erred by failing to obtain an adequate medical opinion for Mr. McCoy.

The Cravath team worked on this appeal in conjunction with the NYU Veterans Legal Services Project, a clinic at NYU that Cravath helped start, which now works with Cravath to identify and represent veterans appearing before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

The Cravath team included partner Timothy G. Cameron and associates Bradley R. Niederschulte and Wendy Serra.

The case is Jason D. McCoy v. Denis McDonough, No. 22-0739 (Vet. App. May 31, 2023).