Veterans Law Judge
Judge U. R. Powell: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2017 to 2020, Veterans Law Judge U. R. Powell signed 3,477 Board decisions covering 6,429 condition issues. The judge granted 11.0% of those issues, denied 26.2% and remanded 58.6%. 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
3,477
2017–2020
Issues decided
6,429
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
11.0%
Board, same conditions: 19.5%
Issues remanded
58.6%
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 | 540 | 10.6% | 17.3% | 62.0% | 51.1% |
| Hearing loss | 410 | 12.9% | 19.5% | 46.8% | 34.5% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 355 | 13.5% | 28.9% | 51.0% | 38.1% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 296 | 8.4% | 20.7% | 53.7% | 46.0% |
| Tinnitus | 244 | 39.3% | 39.6% | 25.0% | 22.7% |
| Hypertension | 217 | 5.1% | 17.2% | 62.2% | 48.7% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 197 | 7.1% | 18.7% | 51.8% | 48.0% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 179 | 15.6% | 26.3% | 65.9% | 50.3% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 143 | 7.7% | 20.6% | 67.8% | 51.6% |
| Diabetes mellitus | 125 | 14.4% | 20.0% | 52.0% | 40.0% |
| Shoulder impairment | 111 | 3.6% | 14.3% | 56.8% | 53.0% |
| Ankle impairment | 108 | 1.9% | 16.9% | 63.0% | 50.4% |
| Migraine | 108 | 11.1% | 30.2% | 63.0% | 42.1% |
| Hip impairment | 93 | 3.2% | 14.4% | 75.3% | 53.7% |
| Major depressive disorder | 85 | 25.9% | 34.6% | 43.5% | 34.2% |
Judge U. R. Powell's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 796 | 18.0% | 39.8% | 62.6% |
| 2018 | 1,002 | 20.1% | 39.8% | 60.5% |
| 2019 | 942 | 19.4% | 35.7% | 64.1% |
| 2020 | 737 | 17.9% | 37.6% | 61.2% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge U. R. Powell's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established45
- Continuity of symptomatology since service14
- Caused by the service-connected disability13
- Resolution of doubt in veteran's favor8
- Veteran competent and credible to report tinnitus7
- Veteran served in thailand during vietnam era7
- Service connection established6
- Conflicting medical opinions regarding nexus5
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim190
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service122
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis69
- Current diagnosis established41
- Service records negative or silent36
- No current diagnosis34
- No continuity of symptomatology26
- Already at the maximum schedular rating13
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 U. R. Powell decisions
Granted
Veteran's symptoms prior to Dec 30, 2019, approximated 50% criteria.; Lack of suicidal ideation, near-continuous panic, or gross impairment prevented higher rating.; Veteran found competent and credible regarding symptoms, but not competent to rate.
Probative evidence of in-service incurrence of obstructive sleep apnea; Private physician opinion found highly probative; VA examiner opinion found inadequate
Multiple surgeries for hallux valgus; Non-functional and painful great right toe; Rated by analogy to amputation under DC 5171
Denied
Preponderance of evidence against service connection; No evidence of chronic disability in service or within one year of separation; Continuity of symptomatology not established; November 2019 VA addendum opinion found less likely than not related to service; Veteran's lay statements regarding etiology not competent
Weight of evidence is against finding criteria for rating in excess of 20% met.; Objective testing revealed moderate level of severity, not approximating moderately severe paralysis.; Disability picture most closely approximates moderate incomplete paralysis, consistent with 20% rating.
Symptoms from Dec 30, 2019, met criteria for 70% rating.; Lack of gross impairment, hallucinations, or suicidal ideation prevented 100% rating.; Preponderance of evidence was against claim for rating higher than 70%.
Research your Judge U. R. Powell 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 (2017–2020) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.