Arellano v. Wilkie — en banc review of equitable tolling under 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1)

This is a Federal Circuit en banc order, not a merits opinion. The court sua sponte voted to rehear the case en banc after panel argument and directed supplemental briefing on four questions centered on whether the rebuttable presumption of equitable tolling recognized in Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs applies to 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1), whether that presumption has been rebutted, whether any ruling would extend to other timing provisions in § 5110, and how analogous benefits statutes have been treated in other programs. The order also required new briefing and set procedures for amicus participation and argument.

Because the source is an order, the holding is procedural: the court did not yet decide the merits, but it identified the equitable-tolling issue as important enough for en banc review. The practical significance is that the case concerns the scope of equitable tolling in veterans’ effective-date law, an issue that can affect whether late claims may still receive earlier effective dates.

A Federal Circuit sua sponte en banc order can be used to reconsider whether the Irwin equitable-tolling presumption applies to statutory effective-date provisions such as 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1).

This order put the equitable-tolling question in veterans’ effective-date law before the full Federal Circuit, making it a key case for arguments about statutory deadlines and earlier effective dates.

It matters because the scope of equitable tolling can determine whether a claimant who missed a statutory timing requirement may still recover an earlier effective date. Even though this document is only an en banc order, it frames the legal issue that later became central to effective-date litigation.

A veteran files a claim after the statutory one-year window and argues that an earlier effective date should still be available because the deadline should be equitably tolled due to extraordinary circumstances.

Cite this order as procedural history and as notice that the Federal Circuit treated equitable tolling under § 5110 as a significant open question. Use the later merits decision for substantive authority.

Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs, Andrews v. Principi