The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for vocational rehabilitation benefits as he successfully completed his law degree and does not have an employment handicap.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has a successful career in law school and is no longer in need of rehabilitation due to having overcome his employment handicap.
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety, Insomnia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- January 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19103973
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board granted service connection for a heart disability, to include coronary artery disease (CAD), as secondary to the Veteran's anxiety and assigned a 70 percent rating from April 29, 2025. The Board also granted an initial 30 percent rating prior to that date.
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The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) but denied service connection for PTSD and a higher rating for the unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder/major depressive disorder/insomnia.
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The Board granted service connection for a separate 50 percent initial rating for insomnia as secondary to tinnitus, and denied an increased rating for tinnitus. The Board also granted service connection for headache disability, low back disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, cervical spine disability, and right upper extremity radiculopathy.
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