Veterans Law Judge
Judge Richard Kettler: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2021 to 2022, Veterans Law Judge Richard Kettler signed 217 Board decisions covering 470 condition issues. The judge granted 14.7% of those issues, denied 33.2% and remanded 49.6%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 19.9% and remanded 46.5%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is above it.
Decisions
217
2021–2022
Issues decided
470
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
14.7%
Board, same conditions: 19.9%
Issues remanded
49.6%
Board, same conditions: 46.5%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 28 | 28.6% | 28.9% | 57.1% | 38.1% |
| Knee impairment | 28 | 14.3% | 17.3% | 60.7% | 51.1% |
Judge Richard Kettler's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 139 | 25.2% | 41.0% | 67.6% |
| 2022 | 78 | 26.9% | 47.4% | 60.3% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge Richard Kettler's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim14
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service8
- Service records negative or silent5
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis5
- No current diagnosis4
- Symptoms consistent with 70% rating2
- Current diagnosis established2
- No new and material evidence submitted2
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 Richard Kettler decisions
Granted
Presumptive service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.320; Service in Kuwait (Southwest Asia theater); Current diagnosis of allergic rhinitis; Manifested within 10 years of deployment; Evidence in relative equipoise, resolved in Veteran's favor
Intermittent systemic therapy prior to 12/25/2009 met criteria for 10% rating.; Continuous systemic therapy for 3 months (more than 6 weeks) from 12/25/2009 to 12/25/2010 met criteria for 30% rating.; No systemic therapy after 12/25/2010 and less than 5% body involvement warranted non-compensable rating.
Combination of visual acuity and visual field defect warrants higher rating.; Average concentric contraction of 14.5 degrees in right eye.; Incapacitating episodes requiring 3-5 treatment visits noted.
Denied
Scars measured less than 10 sq cm, far below the 929 sq cm threshold for a 10% rating under DC 7802.; Applicable diagnostic codes (7800-7805) were reviewed, and only DC 7802 was deemed potentially applicable.; Scars were not painful or unstable, nor were they on the head, face, or neck, nor burn scars.
Symptoms consistent with 70% rating; Does not meet criteria for 100% rating; No gross impairment in thought process or communication; No persistent delusions or hallucinations; No grossly inappropriate behavior; No persistent danger of hurting self or others; No intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living; No disorientation to time or place; No memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name; Occasional visual hallucinations not persistent; No total occupational and social impairment
Current diagnosis of tonsillar cancer established.; Service in Vietnam during presumptive period for herbicide exposure.; Tonsillar cancer not on presumptive list for herbicide exposure.; VA opinion found herbicide exposure not causally related.; VA opinion cited smoking and HPV as more likely causes.; VA opinion noted cancer likely would have manifested earlier if service-related.; Veteran's lay statements on causation found incompetent.; Evidence persuasive that cancer did not onset in service or within one year of separation.; Evidence persuasive that condition is not causally related to herbicide exposure.
Research your Judge Richard Kettler 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 (2021–2022) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.