Court Opinion

ID: 9502364
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 18:50:04.638428+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:00:53.629104
License: Public Domain

IVERS, Judge,
dissenting.
As the Court noted in its February 6 order, the issue and representatives are the same in this case as in Wilson v. Principi, 16 Vet.App. 509 (2002). The appellant asks that we hold the decision in this case pending Abbey v. Principi, U.S. Vet.App. No. 01-501 (Notice of Appeal filed March 19, 2001), because new submissions of evidence in Abbey somehow change the result reached by the Wilson panel. The appellant in Abbey has merely submitted more of the same affidavits: statements regarding billing rates for paralegals by lawyers at some of the top private law firms in Washington, D.C. This evidence is inapposite.
Because I believe that this issue has been resolved satisfactorily in Wilson, I do not agree that this case should be stayed pending Abbey. I respectfully dissent.