Veterans Law Judge
Judge M. Sorisio: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2017 to 2026, Veterans Law Judge M. Sorisio signed 6,575 Board decisions covering 12,265 condition issues. The judge granted 15.9% of those issues, denied 18.2% and remanded 62.9%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 19.5% and remanded 47.5%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is above it.
Decisions
6,575
2017–2026
Issues decided
12,265
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
15.9%
Board, same conditions: 19.5%
Issues remanded
62.9%
Board, same conditions: 47.5%
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 | 936 | 13.5% | 17.3% | 66.0% | 51.0% |
| Hearing loss | 656 | 18.1% | 19.5% | 48.3% | 34.5% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 579 | 27.1% | 28.9% | 52.5% | 38.0% |
| Tinnitus | 442 | 46.8% | 39.5% | 24.7% | 22.7% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 425 | 15.1% | 20.7% | 59.8% | 46.0% |
| Hypertension | 403 | 13.2% | 17.2% | 68.0% | 48.6% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 373 | 19.8% | 26.3% | 65.1% | 50.2% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 327 | 12.8% | 18.7% | 60.6% | 48.0% |
| Shoulder impairment | 260 | 10.8% | 14.3% | 69.6% | 52.9% |
| Migraine | 260 | 23.5% | 30.2% | 60.0% | 42.1% |
| Diabetes mellitus | 228 | 14.9% | 20.0% | 56.1% | 39.9% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 223 | 16.6% | 20.6% | 57.4% | 51.7% |
| Ankle impairment | 200 | 9.5% | 16.9% | 69.0% | 50.3% |
| Hip impairment | 184 | 7.6% | 14.4% | 77.2% | 53.7% |
| Major depressive disorder | 144 | 36.1% | 34.6% | 45.8% | 34.1% |
Judge M. Sorisio's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 380 | 16.8% | 32.6% | 61.3% |
| 2018 | 877 | 28.5% | 31.1% | 63.2% |
| 2019 | 859 | 27.6% | 27.4% | 66.4% |
| 2020 | 866 | 26.6% | 28.3% | 64.8% |
| 2021 | 447 | 27.3% | 29.8% | 62.2% |
| 2022 | 651 | 27.8% | 24.3% | 66.1% |
| 2023 | 649 | 27.3% | 21.7% | 65.8% |
| 2024 | 663 | 24.4% | 17.5% | 55.1% |
| 2025 | 867 | 27.2% | 27.1% | 51.3% |
| 2026 | 316 | 32.3% | 20.9% | 51.6% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge M. Sorisio's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established145
- Service connection established49
- Continuity of symptomatology since service42
- Caused by the service-connected disability25
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service10
- Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas10
- In-service noise exposure conceded9
- Criteria for service connection met8
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim250
- No current diagnosis72
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis69
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service46
- Current diagnosis established45
- Already at the maximum schedular rating36
- No continuity of symptomatology26
- Service records negative or silent24
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 M. Sorisio decisions
Granted
Veteran submitted birth certificates confirming biological fatherhood; Children C. and H. are under the age of 18; Criteria for dependent children recognition met
Private medical opinion found probative; VA examiner opinion inadequate; Resolved reasonable doubt in veteran's favor
Private medical opinion found insomnia likely resulted from service-connected back condition.; VA opinion was inadequate as it acknowledged the link but issued a negative nexus.; Insomnia disorder is a recognized mental health diagnosis.
Denied
Entitlement arose after initial claim date; No separate claim filed for scar prior to surgery; December 29, 2017 is the correct effective date
No current diagnosis of sinusitis or sinus condition.; No evidence of functional impairment from sinus symptoms.; Private medical opinion inadequate due to lack of current records/examination.
VA audiological examination in October 2020 was adequate.; Results indicated Level IV hearing in right ear and Level V in left, warranting 10% rating.; Private audiological examination in October 2022 was inadequate due to different testing methodology.; Veteran's lay testimony regarding hearing difficulties was competent but not sufficient to override objective audiometric results.
Research your Judge M. Sorisio 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.