Veterans Law Judge
Judge L. B. Cryan: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2017 to 2026, Veterans Law Judge L. B. Cryan signed 5,374 Board decisions covering 10,678 condition issues. The judge granted 18.1% of those issues, denied 35.2% and remanded 43.6%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 20.5% and remanded 45.9%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is below it.
Decisions
5,374
2017–2026
Issues decided
10,678
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
18.1%
Board, same conditions: 20.5%
Issues remanded
43.6%
Board, same conditions: 45.9%
Judges do not choose their cases, and grant rates differ a lot by condition. “Board, same conditions” is what the rest of the Board decided for the same mix of conditions, so the comparison is fair to the judge's docket. This is not a ranking.
Conditions this judge decided most
Each row compares the judge's issues on one condition with the rest of the Board's issues on the same condition. Conditions with fewer than 20 of this judge's issues are left out, because a few decisions can swing the rate.
| Condition | Issues | Granted | Board granted | Remanded | Board remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knee impairment | 813 | 16.4% | 17.3% | 43.2% | 51.2% |
| Hearing loss | 629 | 18.0% | 19.5% | 33.1% | 34.6% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 488 | 33.2% | 28.9% | 32.2% | 38.1% |
| Tinnitus | 432 | 29.4% | 39.7% | 26.2% | 22.7% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 368 | 14.1% | 26.3% | 52.2% | 50.3% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 357 | 19.0% | 20.7% | 40.9% | 46.1% |
| Hypertension | 343 | 14.6% | 17.2% | 42.3% | 48.8% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 244 | 12.7% | 18.7% | 46.3% | 48.0% |
| Migraine | 229 | 29.7% | 30.2% | 38.4% | 42.2% |
| Shoulder impairment | 214 | 12.1% | 14.3% | 53.7% | 53.0% |
| Ankle impairment | 208 | 18.8% | 16.8% | 44.7% | 50.5% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 206 | 11.7% | 20.6% | 46.1% | 51.7% |
| Hip impairment | 185 | 10.8% | 14.4% | 51.9% | 53.8% |
| Diabetes mellitus | 177 | 14.1% | 20.0% | 35.6% | 40.1% |
| Major depressive disorder | 144 | 31.9% | 34.6% | 25.7% | 34.2% |
Judge L. B. Cryan's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 179 | 38.0% | 61.5% | 50.8% |
| 2019 | 746 | 39.9% | 39.4% | 48.7% |
| 2020 | 762 | 34.9% | 46.5% | 40.4% |
| 2021 | 684 | 33.8% | 42.0% | 39.2% |
| 2022 | 658 | 26.3% | 41.2% | 47.0% |
| 2023 | 653 | 24.3% | 44.1% | 53.3% |
| 2024 | 594 | 29.3% | 38.4% | 50.3% |
| 2025 | 759 | 23.8% | 48.4% | 45.5% |
| 2026 | 338 | 27.5% | 56.8% | 24.6% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge L. B. Cryan's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established115
- Service connection established40
- Caused by the service-connected disability28
- In-service noise exposure conceded22
- Evidence evenly balanced22
- Continuity of symptomatology since service19
- Resolution of doubt in veteran's favor13
- Criteria for service connection met11
Most common reasons in denials
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service215
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim199
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis168
- No current diagnosis140
- Service records negative or silent132
- Current diagnosis established56
- Already at the maximum schedular rating40
- No continuity of symptomatology20
Numbers are decisions that gave the reason. Reasons are short phrases extracted by AI from each decision; common wordings of the same reason are grouped. Benefit of the doubt is reported above.
Recent Judge L. B. Cryan decisions
Granted
Service treatment records show complaints of sleep problems during deployment.; Fellow servicemember's statement corroborates snoring, breathing pauses, and fatigue.; Evidence found to be in approximate balance, with doubt resolved in Veteran's favor.
AOJ improperly combined arrhythmia with pre-existing heart disease; Rating criteria allows separate evaluations for distinct cardiac disabilities; Evidence supports 10 percent rating under old and revised Code 7010
Veteran's credible reports of knee instability.; Objective finding of recurrent subluxation/persistent instability on one VA exam.; Resolution of doubt in veteran's favor.; Met criteria for 10 percent rating under DC 5257.
Denied
VA audiological examination results calculated to Level II (right ear) and Level IV (left ear) impairment.; Speech discrimination scores of 86% (right) and 82% (left) were within normal limits for rating purposes.; Private audiogram deemed inadequate for rating purposes.; Functional impairments reported by the Veteran are contemplated by the schedular criteria.
Symptoms approximated criteria for 30-50% rating.; No severe impairment in most areas (70% criteria).; Maintained family ties and employment.; Judgment and insight were fair.
Service treatment records negative for heart symptoms; Veteran denied cardiac complaints at separation; No evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation
Research your Judge L. B. Cryan case
Narrow by year, judge, evidence or secondary condition, read the decisions, and export a research memo.
How these numbers are calculated
- Issue rates count each condition the Board decided in a decision once, by the outcome of that issue. A decision can grant one issue and deny another.
- The yearly table counts decisions: a decision with a granted issue and a denied issue appears in both columns, so a row can add up to more than 100%.
- "Board, same conditions" weights the rest of the Board's grant and remand rate for each condition by how many of this judge's issues were on that condition. It does not adjust for evidence, hearing type or representation.
- Judges are identified from the signature on each decision. This page is a statistical summary, not an evaluation of any judge.
- The data comes from CaseScribe's AI extraction of public BVA decisions (2017–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.