On December 21, 2012, the Senate unanimous confirmed William S. Greenberg, of New Jersey, to “be a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for a term of fifteen years.” As I blogged in a December 17, 2012 Post, Mr. Greenberg has a long history of military service as a reserve-component Army Judge Advocate General and an equally long history of pro bono service to veterans while in private practice in New Jersey. A link to the Senate confirmation hearing is located at William S. Greenberg Confirmation Hearing.
In less positive news, the Center for Investigative Reporting recently published a report concerning the effect of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) backlog on aging veterans. The report indicates that in fiscal year 2012, nearly 19,500 veterans died while awaiting adjudication of their compensation claim and the VA paid $437 million in retroactive benefits to the veterans’ survivors upon final adjudication. The report quotes Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, as stating, “The common refrain we hear from many veterans is, ‘Delay, deny, wait till I die. . . .” The report can be accessed at December 20th Center for Investigative Reporting.
If you have any questions about VA disability compensation or pension entitlements, please do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation at www.finkrosner.com or (732) 382-6070.