UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS

625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 900

Washington, DC 20004-2950

Website: www.uscourts.cavc.gov

Email: self-rep@uscourts.cavc.gov

INSTRUCTIONS FOR UNREPRESENTED APPELLANTS

First Steps

The first steps to having the Court of Appeals for 

Veterans Claims (the Court) consider your case are to 

(1) file a Notice of Appeal (Form 1) from a Board of 

Veterans' Appeals (BVA) decision, and (2) pay the $50 

filing fee or request a waiver of that fee by completing a 

Declaration of Financial Hardship (Form 4). These 

forms are available from the Court's website at 

www.uscourts.cavc.gov/forms_fees.php. On the Notice 

of Appeal form you may choose to receive future 

notifications from the Court via email or regular mail 

delivered by the U.S. Postal Service (paper mail).

Once the Court receives your Notice of Appeal, we give 

your case a case number and create a case docket

where all activity in your case is recorded. The notice of 

docketing shows that information. Put your case 

number – not your VA claims file number or your social 

security number – on every paper you send to the Court 

so we can match it with your case. Type or hand-print 

your papers so we can read them. If we can't read your 

filing, we will send it back to you and that will delay 

your case.

You are referred to as the appellant. The other party in 

your appeal is the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, also 

called "the Secretary" or the appellee. The Secretary is 

represented by attorneys from the VA Office of General 

Counsel (VA counsel). As your case moves along, we

will send a notice or an order telling you what to do 

next. Pay attention and do what it tells you. You must 

follow the Court's Rules of Practice and Procedure

(Rules) that are posted on the Court's website at 

www.uscourts.cavc.gov/rules_of_practice.php

About the Court

The Court is NOT part of VA. The Court does not

receive new evidence, hold trials, or award money 

damages. It reviews only what the BVA did in your case, 

based on the evidence and the briefs. In a few cases, 

usually only when an appellant has a representative, the 

Court will schedule an "oral argument" and the Judges 

will ask the parties questions about the case.

Finding the Law

The statutes and regulations pertaining to veterans 

benefits can be found in title 38 of the U.S. Code, and 

title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These are 

available in most public libraries and online. The Court's 

opinions are available in West's Veterans Appeals 

Reporter and on the Court's web site at

www.uscourts.cavc.gov/orders_and_opinions.php. 

Change of Address

If you move or change your phone number or email 

address while your case is at the Court, send a notice of 

your new information to the Court and to VA counsel. 

If you don't, and you miss a deadline because mail went 

to your old address, the Court may dismiss your appeal 

(terminate it without considering it).

Representation

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is always represented 

by an attorney from the VA, who will argue VA's side. 

You may represent yourself, although your side may be 

better presented if you are also represented. When we 

docket your appeal, your name and address become 

public, so lawyers may write to you offering to represent 

you – some for a fee, and some without charge. If you 

are interested in getting a representative, you may also 

review a list of eligible attorneys and non-attorney 

representatives on the Court's website at

www.uscourts.cavc.gov/public_list.php or you may 

contact another attorney you may know. Your 

representative does not have to be from the state where 

you live. The Court won't recommend or appoint anyone 

to represent you. You may ask an attorney to represent 

you or help you with your case for free (pro bono) 

through the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program at 

www.vetsprobono.org or 855-446-9678.

The Record Before the Agency

Not later than 60 days after the notice of docketing has 

been sent to you, the Secretary will: (1) copy all 

materials that were contained in the claims file on the 

date the BVA issued the decision that you are appealing

and copy any other material from the record before the 

Secretary and the BVA (collectively referred to as "the 

agency") relevant to the issues listed in the BVA

decision on appeal (Note: material submitted after the 

BVA decision on appeal generally will not be included 

in the record before the agency); (2) prepare a list of any 

record material that cannot be duplicated; (3) assemble 

and paginate those materials to create the record before

the agency; (4) provide a copy of the record before the 

agency to you; and (5) file a notice with the Court

certifying that the record before the agency has been 

served on you. 
If you don’t agree with the preparation or content of the 

record before the agency, you may file a motion within 

14 days after the record before the agency was served on

you (plus 5 extra days if your motion is filed by paper 

mail), and the Court will resolve the matter. 

Your Brief

After VA counsel provides you with the record before 

the agency, the Court will send you a Notice to File 

Your Brief. Do notsubmit your brief before you receive 

the Notice to File Your Brief. Your brief is important. It 

tells the Court what you think was wrong with the 

BVA's decision. Most cases depend on the facts. Refer 

to facts that are in the record before the agency, not new 

facts that weren't available to the BVA. You may also 

refer to laws, regulations, or court decisions that you 

think apply to your appeal.

We will send you an Informal Brief form that you may 

use for your brief. Follow the instructions carefully. If 

you don't use that form you must meet all the 

requirements for a brief as explained in the Court's Rules 

28 and 31. You may attach extra pages to an Informal 

Brief, but not more than 28 pages without the Court's 

permission. Don't attach "evidence." If you want the 

Court to look at a particular page in the record before the 

agency, you need to specifically refer to that page in 

your brief.

After you file your brief, VA counsel will file a brief 

arguing the Secretary's side of the case and will serve a 

copy on you. Within 14 days after that (19 days if by 

paper mail), you may--but don't have to—file a reply 

brief of not more than 15 pages. Your reply brief may 

be in the form of a letter.

Record of Proceedings

After the Court receives all of the briefs, the Secretary 

will prepare and file the record of proceedings which 

will contain: (1) the BVA decision(s) being appealed; 

(2) any material from the record before the agency cited 

in your brief(s) and the Secretary’s brief; and (3) any 

other documents before the agency that are relevant to 

the issues decided by the BVA that are on appeal to the 

Court.

The record of proceedings will be arranged and 

paginated in the same order as the documents appeared 

in the record before the agency. Because certain 

documents in the record before the agency may not be 

included in the record of proceedings, this arrangement 

may result in pages in the record of proceedings not 

having consecutive numbers, for example, page 22 may 

be followed immediately by page 43.

The Secretary will file and serve the record of 

proceedings not later than 14 days after the reply brief 

is filed and served or if no reply brief is filed, not later 

than 14 days after the reply brief was due in accordance 

with Rule 31(a)(3).

If you don’t agree with the preparation or content of the 

record of proceedings, you may file a motion, within 14 

days after the record of proceedings has been served 

with the Court (19 days if by paper mail), and the Court 

will resolve the matter. 

Motions

To ask the Court to do something, file and serve a 

motion. Say specifically what you want and why you 

want it. See Rule 27.

Withdrawing your Appeal

If you want to drop your case, send a notice with your 

case number to the Court saying: "I withdraw my 

appeal." Be sure you want to do that, because the Court 

probably won't let you change your mind later or refund 

the $50 filing fee.

Notice of the Court's Decision

The Court may decide your appeal in an opinion, a 

memorandum decision, or an order. You will receive a 

copy from the Court. 

• The Court may disagree with your arguments and

find nothing wrong with the BVA decision and 

affirm it.

• The Court may agree with some or all of your 

arguments and reverse (overturn) or vacate 

(cancel) the BVA decision in part or entirely, and 

remand the case (send it back) for action and 

decision by the BVA. The Court may dismiss the 

appeal, leaving the BVA decision in effect. This 

happens when the Court doesn't have jurisdiction 

(legal authority) to consider your appeal, if you 

haven't obeyed the Court's Rules and orders, if you 

withdrew your case, or for other reasons.

More Information

For more information, visit the Court's website at

www.uscourts.cavc.gov. If you want to receive 

electronic notification when anything in your case is 

filed, send an email to self-rep@uscourts.cavc.gov and 

ask to be enrolled in e-notification. You may also write 

to us at the address at the top of the first page, or call us 

at (202) 501-5970 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on 

weekdays.

• We won't give you legal advice.

• We won't suggest how to handle your appeal.

• We won't guess how or when it will be decided.

But we will answer questions about procedures and 

about the status of your case.

Form 8(a) (8/20)