Case Explained: CLARK v. COLLINS

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-16

The Federal Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that it lacks authority to review the Veterans Court’s decision because the dispute centered on an application of law to facts rather than a pure question of law or constitutional issue. The court applied the statutory standard under 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d)(2), which prohibits the Federal Circuit from reviewing factual findings or the application of law to facts by the Veterans Court absent a constitutional issue. Specifically, the court determined that determining whether a January 2008 letter constituted an adequate notice of disagreement under 38 C.F.R. § 20.201 is a factual inquiry regarding the interpretation of claim contents, a matter previously held to be beyond the Federal Circuit’s purview in *Davis v. Collins* and *Ellington v. Peake*. As a result of the dismissal, the Veterans Court’s affirmation of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision denying an earlier effective date for the head injury claim remains in effect, and no further review is available on these grounds.

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