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Alumnus Wins Appeal And Sets A National Precedent Douglas J. Rosinski ('97) |
Douglas J. Rosinski graduated from the School of Law in 1997 and practices with Shaw Pitman, L.L.C., in Washington, D.C. Not long after arriving at Shaw Pittman, Rosinski began working on a case that would set a precedent for veterans and their families and create legislation to prevent a similar injustice from happening to others. Due to his efforts 700 families will receive annual benefits. On December 10, 2002, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims issued a decision awarding a firm pro bono client, the widow of a twice-wounded WWII veteran, over 47 years of underpaid benefits. The widow’s case was on appeal from a September 1999 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) decision that denied payment to her of the benefits her veteran spouse had been awarded for a “clear and unmistakable error” by VA that occurred in his 1948 benefits determination. Five days after receiving notice of the award, the veteran died. The VA refused to pay the award because, according to its interpretation of the applicable statute, no payment was required when a veteran died after an award, but before a check was cut. After nearly three years, primary and supplemental briefs, and oral arguments, the court accepted the argument that the VA regulation substantively differed from the statute because of a change in punctuation. The court, therefore, rejected the language relied upon by the VA to withhold payment and reversed the agency decision and remanded the matter for an award of the full amount of periodic monetary benefits due and owing her deceased husband. Accordingly, the court did not reach the argument that the VA had effected a taking by refusing to pay the vested benefits, an issue which the agency ultimately conceded in oral arguments. This is a significant decision as it not only invalidated a particularly vexing (and unfair) VA regulation that had existed for many decades, but reversed a VA administrative decision. Direct reversals in this court are extremely rare, with remands for further consideration the usual result (if a favorable decision is obtained, itself a relatively unusual occurrence). An appeal by VA is not expected given the forceful rejection of its position by the court in an opinion authored by a former VA general counsel. The veterans’ bar and members of Congress closely followed the case. |
