On remand from the Federal Circuit, the Court addressed whether the appellant’s post-remand objection to Board action could serve as a new Notice of Disagreement for jurisdictional purposes. The Court held it could not. Relying on Hamilton v. Brown, the Court explained that there may be only one valid NOD for a particular claim, and that NOD continues to govern later RO and Board adjudications until final decision or withdrawal. Because the appellant’s claims had already been placed in appellate status by earlier NODs in 1986 and 1988, his May 21, 1989 letter could not create a new jurisdictional basis. The Court therefore dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

A valid Notice of Disagreement is filed only once for a particular claim and continues to control subsequent RO and BVA action on that claim until a final decision or withdrawal; a later objection to post-remand RO action cannot create new jurisdiction.

Do not treat a remand as restarting the NOD clock. The original NOD remains the jurisdictional anchor for the claim, so later disagreement with remand development will not preserve or create Court jurisdiction.

Sudranski is a useful jurisdiction case for identifying when an appeal is already in the stream of appellate review. It prevents parties from trying to manufacture a new NOD after remand and underscores that the Court’s jurisdiction depends on the original appeal sequence, not later dissatisfaction with readjudication.

Attempting to file a new NOD after remand to create Court jurisdiction

A veteran appeals a rating denial, the Board remands for additional development, and the RO again denies the claim. The veteran then submits a new letter disagreeing with the RO’s post-remand decision. Under Sudranski, that later letter does not create a new NOD for the same claim.

Use this case to challenge arguments that a post-remand statement of disagreement reopened appellate jurisdiction, or to explain why a later NOD was ineffective when the claim remained continuously on appeal.

Hamilton v. Brown