Court Opinion

ID: 9502625
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 18:53:26.678415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:01:34.572089
License: Public Domain

HAGEL, Judge,
concurring in the result:
Although I agree with the majority’s opinion in this appeal, I feel compelled to reiterate my disagreement with the majority’s conclusions in Vazquez-Flores I that an appellant’s postadjudicatory participation in the VA appellate process can alone render a section 5103(a) notice error nonprejudicial. Because the Federal Circuit did not address this issue in Vazquez-Flores II, 580 F.3d 1270 (Fed.Cir.2009), the Court’s majority opinion as to these issues stands undisturbed. Therefore, for the reasons stated in my concurrence in Vazquez-Flores I, see 22 Vet.App. 37, 51-57 (2008), I continue to respectfully disagree with the majority’s apparent minimization of the duty to notify.