Veterans Law Judge
Judge W. Daknis: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2026 to 2026, Veterans Law Judge W. Daknis signed 316 Board decisions covering 356 condition issues. The judge granted 30.1% of those issues, denied 21.6% and remanded 47.5%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 19.9% and remanded 47.7%, so this judge's grant rate is above the Board's and the remand rate is close to it.
Decisions
316
2026–2026
Issues decided
356
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
30.1%
Board, same conditions: 19.9%
Issues remanded
47.5%
Board, same conditions: 47.7%
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.
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge W. Daknis's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established14
- Service connection established7
Most common reasons in denials
- No current diagnosis4
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis3
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service3
- No history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more2
- Already at the maximum schedular rating2
- Service records negative or silent2
- April 1988 mva due to veteran's willful misconduct (driving under influence)1
- Board denied earlier effective date for left hand inflammatory polyarthropathy1
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 W. Daknis decisions
Granted
AOJ favorably found current diagnosis and Camp Lejeune exposure.; VA examiner's opinion was inadequate due to conclusory rationale and lack of specific explanation.; Board resolved all doubt in Veteran's favor.
Left hip disability considered alone rendered Veteran unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.; Evidence regarding Veteran's left hip limitations and unemployability was in approximate balance.; Reasonable doubt resolved in Veteran's favor.
Symptoms met criteria for 30% rating under pre-amendment DC 7346; Persistently recurrent epigastric distress, dysphagia, pyrosis, regurgitation, substernal pain; Caused considerable impairment of health
Denied
No unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine found.; No evidence of incapacitating episodes under IVDS Rating Formula.; Private chiropractor concurred with current 40% rating.
No current diagnosis of heart condition found.; No evidence of heart condition during or approximate to claim.; No VA or private treatment records showed heart condition.
No other in-service event related to current chronic lumbar strain.; April 1988 MVA due to Veteran's willful misconduct (driving under influence).; Willful misconduct proximately caused back strain.
Research your Judge W. Daknis case
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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 (2026–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.