UNITED STAT ES COURT OF AP P EALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

N O
. 96-739
D I XON H. I S AAC , A PP EL L ANT ,
V
. T OGO D. W EST , J R ., S EC RE T A RY O F V ET ER A N S A FF A I RS , A PPEL L EE
.

Be fore NEB EKER, Chief Judge , and KRAMER and STEI NB ERG , Judges

. O R D E R This matter is befor e the Court on an a pplication for attorney fe es an d ex penses unde r the Equal Ac cess to Just ice Ac t, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) (EAJA).
I n the merits litigation, the appellant, veter an Dix on H. I saac , appea led throug h counsel a n April 10, 1996, Boa

rd of Ve tera

ns' Appea ls (BV A or B oard) decision deny ing his claim of c lear

and unmistakable er

ror ( CUE) in a fina l J anuar y 1980 Depa

rtment of Ve tera

ns Affa ir s (V A) re g ional office decision and deter

mining that new

and mater ial evidenc e had not be en pre sented to re open a disallowed cla im of VA ser vice c onnection for

a manic- depre ssive (bipolar) diso rd er . On Fe bruar y 4, 1999, the Court in a memora ndum decision aff

irm ed t h at B VA dec ision in part and vacated it in part and remanded the reope ning matter for rea djudication. Is aa c v . W est , No. 96-739, 1999 WL 52346, at *5-*6 (V et. App. F eb. 4, 1999). O n April 20, 1999, the appellant filed a Notice of Appe al to the United States Court of Appea ls for the F eder al Circuit (F eder al Circuit) as to the CUE claim, se e Is aa c v . W est , No. 96-739, 1999 WL 446864, at *1 (Ve t. App. J une 9, 1999), a nd that appea l is sti ll pending be fore the Fe dera l Circuit. Se eIs aa c v . W est , Fe d. Cir. No. 99-7113 (appe al filed Apr . 20, 1999). On May 3, 1999, the appe llant filed a motion for issuanc e of a mandate on the rema

nded i s s u e, an d t h e S ec re t ary

d i d n o tfi l e a no p p o s i t i o n . On J u n e 9 , 1 9 9 9 , t h e C o u rt gra n t edt h e ap p el l an t 's m o t i o n , an d

t h a ts am e d ay t h e C l e r

k o f t h e C o u rt i s s u e d t h e m an d a t e a s t o t h e r e m an d e d i s s u e o n l y. See als o No rri

s ( Da v is) v . W

est , 1 2 V e t

. Ap p . 3 0 4 , 3 0 5 ( 1 9 9 9 ) ( p e r c u r i a mo r d e r )

. T h a tm an da te permitted the re mand proc eeding s to move forwa rd at the B oard a s to the reope ning c laim. On J uly 6, 1999, the appe l l an t fi led an EA J A application. The Secre tary has filed a

motion to hol d that application in abe y ance , and the a ppellant has filed a

reply in oppositi on to that motion. The Court notes that the Sec re t ar y relies pr incipally

on two case s in his mot ion: Do le v. Phoe nix Roofing, Inc. , 922 F.2d 1202 ( 5th Cir. 1991), and Claassen v. Hec kler , 630 F. Supp. 322 (D

. Ka n. 19 86 ). Al tho ug h the se c a se s ma y su g g e st that or din ari ly

a c ivi l a c tio n w ithmul tip le c la ims is not finally

resolved until the cour

t of orig inal jurisdiction ha s decide d the entire case and issued2

a fina l judgment, ne ither ca se dea lt with a situation wher e a court had rema nded one matter, anothe r m a t t e r w a s a

p p e a l e d , an d t h e c o u rth a d i s s u e d a m an d a t e a s t o t h e r e m an d e d m a t t e r . A c c o r d i n g l y, the Court is in need of f

urther br iefingin connec tion with thi s point. S pecif ically , the Court wishes the fo llo wi ngqu e sti on s to be a dd re sse d, wi th a

fu ll di scu ssi on

a s to e a c h q

ue sti on a lon g wi th c itatio ns to r e le va

nt f e de ra l c a se law und e r t

he EA JA and

oth e r a na log ou s f

e de ra l a tto rn e y -f

e e laws : (1)( a) Di d t he Court er

r in issuing its mandate on June 9, 1999, as to the re mand e d c la im? ( b ) If s o , w h a ti s t h e r e m e dy? (2)( a) I f the Court were to rec all its mandate and w ithdraw its J une 9, 1999, order , woul d the appe llant's a ppeal to the F eder al Circuit nonetheless have c on sti tut e d a

n a pp e a l on ly

of the CU E c la im? (b) I f so, did the filing of such a limit ed appea l, in the abse n ce o f a Court ord er t o th e c on tr ary , p re ve nt t he ru nn ingof the 60 -d ay

a pp e a l pe ri od

un de r R ule 41(a) of this Court's Rules of Pra ctice a nd Pr o cedure a s to the remande d manicde pr e ssi ve -d iso rd e r c la im and thu s de lay a s to that c la im a fi na l jud g me nt t hat w ou ld have tr igg ere d the 30-da

y EAJA application period under 28 U.S.C. § 2 4 1 2 ( d )(1) (B )? (c) I f an a ppeal only

as to the CUE claim did not postpone a final judg ment for EA J A purposes a s to the remand ed m anic- depre ssive-disorder claim, was the J uly 6, 1999, EAJA application timely filed? ( d ) I f t h e a p p e a l o f t h e C U E c l a i md i d

d e l ay a f i n a l j u d g m e n tf

o r E A JA purposes a s to the remande d claim, should the Court return the EAJA application as pr e matur e ly

fi le d o r hol d it

a s r e c e ive d a

nd fi le it at th e tim e of

fi na l ju dg me nt a s to both claims, se e Sti llwe ll v . B ro wn , 6 Ve t.A pp . 2 91 , 3 00 (1 99 4) ; Gonzalez v. United States , 44 Fe d. Cl. 764, 767-69 (1999)? (3 )( a ) I f t he Court did no t e rr in i ssu ingthat ma

nd a te and it r e ma ins in e ff

e c t, does that mandate constitute a fina l judgment f or EAJA purposes as to the re manded c la im? (b) I f so, must the Court pr ocee d to a djudicate the pendingEAJA application, if timely filed, or doe s the Cour t h av e discretion to postpone consider ation of the EAJA application until t he C ourt ag ain has jurisdiction over the case following the re so lut ion of the a pp e a l to the F e de ra l Cir c uit ?
On c on sid e ratio n o f t

he fo re g oin g , it

is3

ORDERED that, not later tha n 30 day s afte r the date of this order , the Secr etar y file, and serve on the appe llant, a memora ndum addre ssing the a

bove questions. I t is further ORDERED that, not later tha n 30 day s af

ter ser vice of the Secr etar

y ' s memorandum, the appellant f

ile, and ser

ve on the Sec reta

ry , a memora

ndum in response. It is further
ORDE RED that, no t late r t he n 2 0 d ay s a ft e r s e rv ic e of the a pp e lla nt' s me mor and

um i n r e s p o n s e , t h e S e c r e t ar

y m ay f i l e a r e p l y. DA TE D: F e br

ua ry 17 , 2 00 0 PER CU RI AM

.