Caffrey v. Brown’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 30 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]his bill addresses errors similar to the kinds which are grounds for reopening Social Security claims. Under the Social Security system, a claim may be reopened at any time to correct an error which appears on the face of the evidence used when making the prior decision. " H.R.Rep. No. 105-52, at 3 (emphasis added). 44 We conclude that decisions of this court and the Veterans Court concluding that a clear and unmistakable error at the RO level must be outcome determinative and must be apparent from the evidence of record at the time of the original decision are supported by the language of 38 U.S.C. § 5109A and its legislative history. We therefore reject Mr. Cook's request that we overturn existing law to that effect. 13 45 The requirements that a clear and unmistakable error be outcome determinative and be based on the record that existed at the time of the original decision make it impossible for a breach of the duty to assist to form the basis for a CUE claim. First, a breach of the duty to assist cannot constitute an outcome determinative error. Without the benefit of additional evidence that might have been in the record but for the breach, we may only conclude that, as a result of the breach, the record was incomplete. This cannot be an "outcome-determinative”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Cook v. Principi

2. “because, when the RO rendered its decision, it had not obtained the psychiatric SMRs that he had requested and had failed to afford him a VA examination. Had the VA fulfilled its duty to assist him before adjudicating his claim, Mr. Hayre asserts, the record would have been complete and service connection accordingly granted at that time. Thus, Mr. Hayre essentially argues that all determinations regarding service connection made after 1975 but before the December 18, 1992, decision were the product of”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Hayre v. West

3. “For example, [assume that] an appellant had submitted three items of evidence, all indicating a date stamp of receipt by the VA prior to the adjudication in question; however, in rendering a decision, the adjudicator specifically stated that the record contained two pieces of evidence submitted by the appellant.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Lynch v. Gober