Johannes v. Principi

I voted to grant the appellant’s motion for a panel decision, and I did so for two reasons. Both my reasons relate to the reliance on Smith (Shannon) v. Principi, 16 Vet.App. 71 (2002), in the single judge’s June 26, 2002, denial of the appellant’s application for reasonable attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) (EAJA). Johannes v. Principi, No. 01-634, 2002 WL 1965252 (June 26, 2002) (unpublished order). First, this case is clearly distinguishable from Smith (Shannon) where the Board, albeit in a most cursory fashion, did address the new 38…