UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

MISC. NO. 1-99

IN RE:

RULES 3 AND 46

Before NEBEKER, Chief Judge, and KRAMER, FARLEY,

HOLDAWAY, IVERS, STEINBERG, and GREENE, Judges

O R D E R

Pursuant to the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7264(a) and consistent with 28 U.S.C. § 2071(b),

the Court has adopted changes to Rules 3 and 46 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure and to

Forms 1 and 3 in the Appendix of Forms to those rules. The Court has benefited from public

comment and from the views of its Rules Advisory Committee. Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that the attached changes to Rules 3 and 46 and Forms 1 and 3 are published and

will be effective May 1, 1999.

DATED: March 18, 1999 BY THE COURT:

FRANK Q. NEBEKER

Chief Judge

3 attachments

MISC. ORDER NO. 9-98 WAS THE LAST IN THE SERIES FOR 1998
Attachment to Miscellaneous Order No. 1-99 (only affected subsections shown)

RULE 3. HOW TO APPEAL

(f) Limited Appearance. See Rule 46(d)(6).

RULE 46. REPRESENTATION

(c) Appearance in a Particular Case. On motion and a showing of good cause, the Court may permit any attorney or non-attorney

to appear on behalf of a party or amicus for the purposes of a particular case. See also Rule 8 of the Rules of Admission and

Practice.

(d) Representation Requirements.

(1) Practitioner defined. A person who has been admitted to practice under subsections (a) or (b) or has been permitted to appear

under subsections (c) of this Rule 46 is referred to in this subsection (d) as a practitioner.

(2) Appearance. No practitioner may appear on behalf of a party or amicus in any proceedings in a case without first filing:

(A) a written notice of appearance in the detail prescribed by Form 3 in the Appendix of Forms; and

(B) a copy of the fee agreement if the practitioner is representing an appellant or petitioner or intervenor, unless the

representation is without charge to that party. If the agreement provides for direct payment out of past-due benefits under

38 U.S.C. § 5904, a copy must be served on the Secretary.

An appearance may not be made in the name of a law firm or other organization.

(3) Papers filed by a non-attorney. Each paper filed by a non-attorney practitioner must include the name, address, and signature

of the responsible supervising attorney under Rule 46(b)(1) or the identification of the employing organization under Rule

46(b)(2).

(4) Withdrawal. A practitioner may withdraw from a case by filing a notice stating that the party has consented to the withdrawal,

if another practitioner has previously entered an appearance on behalf of the party. Otherwise, a practitioner may not withdraw

from a case without obtaining the Court's permission by filing a motion to withdraw that

(A) lists the client's current address and telephone number, and

(B) assures the Court that 

(i) the client has been notified of the motion to withdraw, and

(ii) copies of all papers filed by the parties, all notices and orders accumulated by the practitioner, and all files belonging

to the client have been sent to the client or to a named substitute practitioner.

The practitioner's authority and duty continue until he or she is relieved by the Court, subject to conditions that the Court

considers appropriate.

(5) Change of address. Each practitioner and self-represented party must notify the Clerk and all other parties of any change of

his or her address or telephone number. Absent such notice, the mailing of documents to the address most recently provided

by that person will be fully effective.

(6) Limited representation. This Rule 46(d) does not apply when a practitioner files a Notice of Appeal on behalf of an appellant

and specifies that the representation is limited to that filing.

(7) Subsections (2)(B), (4), (5), and (6) of this Rule 46(d) do not apply to practitioners representing the Secretary.

(e) (Rescinded)

(g) Self-representation. Any appellant, petitioner, or intervenor may be self-represented before the Court.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

Notice of Appeal

The following named appellant appeals to the Court from a final Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA)

decision. The Board's decision was dated .

 

VA claims file number

Appellant's printed name

 

Appellant's telephone number

Appellant's address

 

 

Signature of person filing this notice

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

On , a copy of this Notice was mailed postage prepaid or served personally on

General Counsel (027), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington,

DC 20420. I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the United States, that the foregoing

is true and correct.

 

Signature of person filing this notice

Only if this Notice of Appeal is filed by a representative, check one of the following:

[ ] My Notice of Appearance is attached.

[ ] My representation is limited to the filing of this Notice of Appeal.

INSTRUCTIONS

Send this Notice of Appeal (NOA) (original only) to:

Clerk, US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims 

625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 900

Washington, DC 20004-2950 

It will be in time if it is properly addressed to the

Court and bears a legible postmark affixed by the

United States Postal Service (USPS) within 120 days

after the mailing date of the BVA decision that you

are appealing. A postage-metered date imprint other

than one affixed by USPS does not qualify.

You may send this NOA by facsimile transmission to

(202) 501-5848 or by means other than US mail.

If you do that, or if you mail the NOA and it does not

bear a legible USPS postmark, the NOA will be too

late if it arrives at the Court after the 120-day time

limit. The Court cannot extend the time limit.

There is a $50 filing fee for an appeal. Send a check

or money order, payable to "US Court of Appeals for

Veterans Claims," with this NOA. Do not send cash. 

To request a waiver of the filing fee, attach a

completed Form 4 (Motion to Waive Filing Fee).

Send a copy of this NOA to VA General Counsel and

complete the certificate of service shown above.

Form 1

(Rev 05/99)
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

Notice of Appearance

 , [ ]Appellant,

[ ]Petitioner,

v. No. 

 ,

Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

1. Please enter my appearance for [ ] the appellant or petitioner

[ ] the Secretary

[ ] the intervenor

[ ] amicus curiae: .

2. I am:

[ ] admitted to practice before this Court.

[ ] awaiting admission to practice; my application was submitted on (date) .

[ ] seeking to appear in this case only, under Rule 46(c); my motion is attached.

3. I am:

[ ] the representative of record. I will accept service for the party and will inform all of the

party's other representatives of the matters served upon me.

[ ] not the representative of record, but am joining that representative.

[ ] replacing the representative of record, who has been permitted to withdraw.

4. If I am representing the appellant, petitioner, or intervenor, my representation is:

[ ] pursuant to the attached fee agreement. If it provides for direct payment out of past-due

benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 5904, I have served a copy on counsel for the Secretary.

[ ] without charge to the appellant, petitioner, or intervenor.

 

Date

Signature

 

Veterans service organization, if Rule 46(b)(2) applies.

Printed name

 Signature and printed name and address of supervising attorney,

if Rule 46(b)(1) applies:

Address

 

 

Telephone number

 

Attachments:

[ ] Motion to appear under Rule 46(c)

[ ] Fee agreement Form 3

(Rev 05/99)