Veterans Law Judge
Judge N. Rippel: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2017 to 2026, Veterans Law Judge N. Rippel signed 666 Board decisions covering 1,700 condition issues. The judge granted 17.5% of those issues, denied 33.8% and remanded 46.0%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 19.5% and remanded 47.6%, so this judge's grant rate is close to the Board's and the remand rate is close to it.
Decisions
666
2017–2026
Issues decided
1,700
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
17.5%
Board, same conditions: 19.5%
Issues remanded
46.0%
Board, same conditions: 47.6%
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 | 132 | 23.5% | 17.3% | 43.9% | 51.1% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 76 | 28.9% | 28.9% | 36.8% | 38.1% |
| Hearing loss | 61 | 16.4% | 19.5% | 37.7% | 34.6% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 54 | 24.1% | 20.7% | 37.0% | 46.1% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 52 | 19.2% | 26.2% | 48.1% | 50.3% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 47 | 17.0% | 18.7% | 46.8% | 48.0% |
| Tinnitus | 47 | 25.5% | 39.6% | 19.1% | 22.8% |
| Migraine | 45 | 24.4% | 30.2% | 37.8% | 42.2% |
| Hypertension | 44 | 13.6% | 17.2% | 45.5% | 48.7% |
| Hip impairment | 42 | 16.7% | 14.3% | 54.8% | 53.8% |
| Ankle impairment | 38 | 13.2% | 16.9% | 47.4% | 50.4% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 36 | 13.9% | 20.6% | 50.0% | 51.7% |
| Shoulder impairment | 33 | 18.2% | 14.3% | 51.5% | 53.0% |
| Foot impairment | 30 | 13.3% | 10.7% | 80.0% | 61.1% |
| Major depressive disorder | 29 | 34.5% | 34.6% | 37.9% | 34.2% |
Judge N. Rippel's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 138 | 33.3% | 50.7% | 61.6% |
| 2019 | 52 | 26.9% | 55.8% | 63.5% |
| 2020 | 97 | 28.9% | 52.6% | 57.7% |
| 2021 | 77 | 22.1% | 59.7% | 49.4% |
| 2022 | 245 | 46.1% | 40.8% | 51.4% |
| 2023 | 23 | 43.5% | 17.4% | 69.6% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge N. Rippel's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established19
- Service connection established7
- Caused by the service-connected disability5
- New and material evidence submitted3
- Incurred in service2
- New and material evidence submitted to reopen claim2
- Continuity of symptomatology since service2
- In-service noise exposure conceded2
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim40
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service25
- No current diagnosis20
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis20
- Service records negative or silent15
- Current diagnosis established7
- No continuity of symptomatology3
- Already at the maximum schedular rating3
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 N. Rippel decisions
Granted
Competent and credible lay evidence of in-service onset and continuous symptoms; January 2024 VA medical opinion linking cervical radiculopathy to in-service neck strain; Benefit of the doubt doctrine applied due to approximate balance of evidence
Veteran's lay testimony regarding onset and continuity of symptoms found credible.; Negative VA nexus opinion disregarded due to lack of continuation of care.; Evidence found to be approximately balanced; benefit of doubt applied.
Competent and credible lay evidence of symptom onset during service; Consistent lay statements and testimony; Temporal relationship between service and symptom onset; Resolving doubt in Veteran's favor
Denied
No current diagnosis of shin splints, left lower extremity; No objective evidence of functional impairment; Evidence persuasively against the claim
Veteran already receiving maximum schedular rating of 10% under DC 5215; Evidence does not support higher rating for functional loss due to pain; Evidence does not support actual or functional ankylosis under DC 5214
Failure to report for scheduled VA examinations; No good cause shown for failure to appear; Claim denied as a matter of law per 38 C.F.R. § 3.655(b)
Research your Judge N. Rippel 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.