Veterans Law Judge
Judge L. M. Barnard: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2017 to 2026, Veterans Law Judge L. M. Barnard signed 9,811 Board decisions covering 18,931 condition issues. The judge granted 13.4% of those issues, denied 33.5% and remanded 50.7%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 19.7% and remanded 47.1%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is above it.
Decisions
9,811
2017–2026
Issues decided
18,931
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
13.4%
Board, same conditions: 19.7%
Issues remanded
50.7%
Board, same conditions: 47.1%
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 | 1,516 | 12.2% | 17.3% | 52.6% | 51.1% |
| Hearing loss | 1,016 | 11.4% | 19.6% | 39.7% | 34.5% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 908 | 20.9% | 29.0% | 44.6% | 38.0% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 756 | 10.6% | 20.8% | 52.2% | 46.0% |
| Tinnitus | 678 | 31.6% | 39.7% | 26.7% | 22.7% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 602 | 18.8% | 26.3% | 53.7% | 50.3% |
| Hypertension | 581 | 12.4% | 17.2% | 55.1% | 48.7% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 558 | 12.4% | 18.7% | 53.0% | 48.0% |
| Shoulder impairment | 504 | 10.7% | 14.4% | 55.2% | 53.0% |
| Migraine | 426 | 20.4% | 30.3% | 44.1% | 42.2% |
| Ankle impairment | 354 | 7.6% | 17.0% | 53.4% | 50.4% |
| Hip impairment | 333 | 7.2% | 14.4% | 60.1% | 53.7% |
| Diabetes mellitus | 326 | 20.6% | 20.0% | 38.7% | 40.1% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 304 | 15.1% | 20.6% | 51.0% | 51.7% |
| Major depressive disorder | 263 | 22.8% | 34.7% | 38.8% | 34.1% |
Judge L. M. Barnard's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 687 | 14.3% | 46.0% | 58.2% |
| 2018 | 1,183 | 23.2% | 47.3% | 58.3% |
| 2019 | 1,059 | 23.0% | 46.3% | 58.3% |
| 2020 | 1,112 | 27.5% | 46.2% | 54.9% |
| 2021 | 1,198 | 27.3% | 39.4% | 53.1% |
| 2022 | 1,299 | 26.9% | 33.0% | 57.8% |
| 2023 | 1,029 | 25.3% | 33.5% | 58.9% |
| 2024 | 846 | 23.9% | 37.7% | 47.6% |
| 2025 | 1,008 | 27.6% | 44.2% | 47.5% |
| 2026 | 390 | 34.6% | 41.5% | 43.6% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge L. M. Barnard's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established151
- Service connection established67
- Caused by the service-connected disability52
- Continuity of symptomatology since service45
- In-service noise exposure conceded39
- Service records negative or silent21
- Aggravated by the service-connected disability12
- New and material evidence received to reopen claim12
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim422
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service406
- No current diagnosis326
- Service records negative or silent308
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis257
- No continuity of symptomatology95
- Current diagnosis established77
- Continuity of symptomatology since service58
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. M. Barnard decisions
Granted
Veteran did not meet schedular TDIU requirements.; Private vocational assessment found veteran unemployable due to service-connected disabilities.; Board found private opinion probative and applied extraschedular TDIU.
Veteran served at Fort McClellan during periods of herbicide use/storage.; Board found evidence in equipoise regarding herbicide exposure.; Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a presumptive condition for herbicide exposure.
Granted 40% rating; DM requires insulin and diet regulation; Did not meet criteria for higher rating
Denied
Evidence weighed against claim for earlier effective date.; Benefit of doubt did not apply.; Evidence did not support rating higher than 20 percent for left shoulder limitation of motion.
No indication of limitation of adduction preventing crossing legs prior to March 28, 2025.; Minimum criteria for Diagnostic Code 5253 not met prior to March 28, 2025.
No clear intent to claim separate ankle disability before October 13, 2021; January 2011 claim not considered an informal claim for ankle disability; Veteran did not report ankle symptoms or appeal final decisions regarding feet/shoulders
Research your Judge L. M. Barnard 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.