Veterans Law Judge
Judge Wendy Daknis: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2022 to 2025, Veterans Law Judge Wendy Daknis signed 2,554 Board decisions covering 3,128 condition issues. The judge granted 16.0% of those issues, denied 27.8% and remanded 53.6%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 20.4% and remanded 46.0%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is above it.
Decisions
2,554
2022–2025
Issues decided
3,128
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
16.0%
Board, same conditions: 20.4%
Issues remanded
53.6%
Board, same conditions: 46.0%
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 | 269 | 13.8% | 17.3% | 60.2% | 51.1% |
| Hearing loss | 147 | 8.2% | 19.5% | 37.4% | 34.6% |
| Tinnitus | 146 | 32.2% | 39.6% | 22.6% | 22.7% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 145 | 20.0% | 28.9% | 44.1% | 38.1% |
| Sleep apnea syndromes (obstructive central mixed) | 113 | 20.4% | 26.2% | 67.3% | 50.3% |
| Shoulder impairment | 86 | 11.6% | 14.3% | 68.6% | 53.0% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 85 | 16.5% | 20.7% | 55.3% | 46.0% |
| Migraine | 84 | 26.2% | 30.2% | 50.0% | 42.2% |
| Hip impairment | 80 | 11.3% | 14.3% | 62.5% | 53.8% |
| Hypertension | 80 | 18.8% | 17.2% | 48.8% | 48.7% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 77 | 14.3% | 18.7% | 67.5% | 48.0% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 70 | 28.6% | 20.5% | 34.3% | 51.7% |
| Ankle impairment | 69 | 8.7% | 16.9% | 62.3% | 50.4% |
| Diabetes mellitus | 51 | 25.5% | 20.0% | 39.2% | 40.1% |
| Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) | 45 | 11.1% | 19.3% | 68.9% | 52.9% |
Judge Wendy Daknis's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 556 | 19.8% | 29.1% | 55.0% |
| 2024 | 1,007 | 23.3% | 31.8% | 42.2% |
| 2025 | 974 | 26.4% | 33.4% | 43.4% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge Wendy Daknis's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Current diagnosis established54
- Service connection established26
- Caused by the service-connected disability13
- Resolving all doubt in veteran's favor10
- In-service noise exposure conceded7
- Resolved all doubt in veteran's favor5
- Resolving all doubt in favor of the veteran4
- Veteran met schedular requirements for TDIU4
Most common reasons in denials
- No current diagnosis58
- Service records negative or silent24
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service23
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis20
- Already at the maximum schedular rating20
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim11
- Current diagnosis established11
- Evidence persuasively weighs against service connection4
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 Wendy Daknis decisions
Granted
Service-connected heart disease and hypertension led to dizziness and frequent falls, posing a safety risk and impacting work.; Hearing loss caused difficulty communicating, challenging employment.; PTSD symptoms, including depressed mood, anxiety, panic attacks, and chronic sleep impairment, impacted ability to work.; Veteran reported stopping work on October 1, 2020, due to these disabilities.
Favorable VA examiner opinion; Veteran's credible lay testimony; Nexus to service established
Veteran's service-connected disabilities precluded substantially gainful employment; February 2, 2023, was a factually ascertainable date within the one-year look-back period; Benefit of the doubt afforded to the Veteran
Denied
No current diagnosis found; Evidence persuasively against diagnosis; VA examiner found no evidence of sinusitis
Criteria for compensable rating not met.; Veteran's condition does not manifest as moderate bilateral or unilateral flatfoot with specific findings.; No recent diagnosis of disability prior to claim filing.
Overlapping symptoms of TBI and PTSD; Inability to separate TBI and PTSD manifestations; Symptoms did not meet criteria for 70% rating
Research your Judge Wendy Daknis 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 (2022–2025) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.