The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, based in Washington, D.C., will hold a public session in the McQuade Law Auditorium at The University of Toledo College of Law from 9:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Feb. 24 as part of the court’s Off-Site Court Program.

The court’s session accompanies a visit by Eugene R. Fidell, attorney for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in his pending court martial and visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, who will deliver the Order of the Coif Distinguished Lecture titled “Military Justice and Its Reform” today (Tuesday, Feb. 23) at the College of Law.

“Watching an appellate argument before a federal court in our building is a rare learning opportunity for our students and members of the community,” said D. Benjamin Barros, dean of the College of Law.  “Students and others attending the event will also have the opportunity to ask the judges questions following the argument.”

“This event also has special meaning because of the importance of veterans’ issues in current policy discussions,” said Barros. “This court provides a necessary avenue for our nation’s veterans, including 2.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to ensure they receive all the benefits they are due.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is a federal court with exclusive jurisdiction over final decisions by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, an entity within the Department of Veterans Affairs. The court provides veterans an impartial judicial forum for review of administrative decisions by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals that are adverse to the veteran-appellant’s claim of entitlement to benefits for service-connected disabilities, survivor benefits, and other benefits including education payments and waiver of indebtedness.

Three of the court’s seven judges will preside over oral argument at the College of Law in the matter of Noah v. McDonald, concerning an application by a Vietnam veteran for a finding that PTSD was “service connected.” The three-judge panel will be announced at the event. Among the court’s seven judges is College of Law alumnus Alan G. Lance, Sr. ’73, who was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush in 2004.

More information is available on the court’s website, uscourts.cavc.gov, and the UT College of Law website, utoledo.edu/law/us-court-of-appeals-for-veterans-claims.html.

Tags: College of Law