Veterans Law Judge
Judge Zi-Heng Zhu: BVA decisions and outcomes
From 2019 to 2025, Veterans Law Judge Zi-Heng Zhu signed 374 Board decisions covering 792 condition issues. The judge granted 13.1% of those issues, denied 31.9% and remanded 54.0%. For the same mix of conditions, the rest of the Board granted 20.4% and remanded 47.0%, so this judge's grant rate is below the Board's and the remand rate is above it.
Decisions
374
2019–2025
Issues decided
792
One issue per condition per decision
Issues granted
13.1%
Board, same conditions: 20.4%
Issues remanded
54.0%
Board, same conditions: 47.0%
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 | 67 | 9.0% | 17.3% | 49.3% | 51.1% |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 42 | 21.4% | 28.9% | 38.1% | 38.1% |
| Hearing loss | 38 | 7.9% | 19.5% | 50.0% | 34.6% |
| Degenerative arthritis of the spine (spondylosis) | 35 | 11.4% | 20.7% | 68.6% | 46.0% |
| Peripheral nerve disorders | 34 | 11.8% | 20.6% | 47.1% | 51.7% |
| Hypertension | 31 | 19.4% | 17.2% | 58.1% | 48.7% |
| Intervertebral disc syndrome | 24 | 12.5% | 18.7% | 62.5% | 48.0% |
| Hip impairment | 23 | 17.4% | 14.3% | 39.1% | 53.8% |
| Shoulder impairment | 20 | 20.0% | 14.3% | 35.0% | 53.0% |
Judge Zi-Heng Zhu's decisions by year
| Year | Decisions | Granted | Denied | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 36 | 19.4% | 36.1% | 61.1% |
| 2021 | 139 | 23.0% | 40.3% | 66.2% |
| 2022 | 181 | 24.3% | 49.7% | 59.7% |
Why the Board granted or denied issues in Judge Zi-Heng Zhu's decisions
Most common reasons in grants
- Service connection established4
- Current diagnosis established3
- Caused by the service-connected disability2
Most common reasons in denials
- Preponderance of the evidence against the claim20
- No current diagnosis18
- VA examiner: less likely than not related to service16
- Service records negative or silent12
- No in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis8
- Continuity of symptomatology since service3
- Current diagnosis established2
- No continuity of symptomatology2
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 Zi-Heng Zhu decisions
Granted
Service treatment records noted in-service injury and treatment.; Subsequent VA opinion found condition related to service.; Board found evidence in equipoise and resolved doubt in favor of Veteran.
Weight of evidence evenly balanced; In-service incurrence established; Positive nexus opinion from VA examiner; Credible lay evidence
Present disability of lumbosacral strain with functional impairment; Secondary to service-connected right knee PFS; Persuasive private and treating physician opinions; Benefit of the doubt resolved in veteran's favor
Denied
Diagnosis of left ear hearing loss occurred outside the one-year period for presumptive service connection.; Service treatment records are silent for complaints, treatments, or diagnosis of left ear hearing loss.; No probative evidence of continuity of symptomatology from service.; VA examinations did not support a service connection.; Weight of competent medical evidence is against the claim.
Contemporaneous service records negative for ankle complaints/treatment.; Separation examination normal; no relevant symptoms denied.; First diagnosis decades after service and outside presumptive period.; Veteran's statements regarding in-service injury and continuity of symptoms found not credible.; Multiple VA examiner opinions found no relation to service.; Competent medical evidence weighs against nexus.
Prior to Feb 28, 2022, symptoms did not meet criteria for higher ratings (e.g., 3+ incapacitating exacerbations/year, weight loss/anemia).; Veteran's statements found credible and consistent with 40% rating.; No evidence of constitutional manifestations associated with active joint involvement that was totally incapacitating.
Research your Judge Zi-Heng Zhu 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 (2019–2025) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.