Coffee w/ Chris: (Monday, November 5, 2018)

The Supreme Court takes on Agent Orange.

It is not often that the Supreme Court takes up a veterans disability claim. This past Friday, SCOTUS granted cert in a case called Gray v. Wilkie.

The question in that case is whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has jurisdiction to hear a challenge to a VA rule that was published in the VA's adjudicator's handbook, the M-21 Manual. The regulation at issue is the lines drawn by the VA to define what is, and what is not, considered Brown Water in terms of the Agent Orange presumption for veterans who served in various ports in Vietnam (DaNang, Cam Ranh Bay, for example).

I'll bring you up to speed on the Gray case, and what it means for Brown Water Navy Veterans exposed to Agent Orange while serving in certain open water ports in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

We'll also talk about the Procopio appeal.

Finally, we'll talk about a second financial metric that should be on the monthly/quarterly dashboard at any law firm. Last week we talked about the financial metric that is like your car's "fuel gauge." This week we'll talk about the financial metric that is like your car's tachometer - and how to know when your law firm is about to "red line" or "stall."

Email me if there are specific topics that you want me to discuss on a future episode of "Coffee w/ Chris"