NO ATTORNEY ABANDONMENT ABSENT REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT
/Sneed v. McDonald, 819 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 22, 2016)
HELD: Although attorney abandonment may, in certain circumstances, justify equitable tolling of the filing deadline in an appeal to the CAVC, there is no attorney abandonment absent a representation agreement between the parties.
Even if the claimant in this case had been able to show that there was attorney abandonment, she would still not be entitled to equitable tolling because “she failed to demonstrate that she diligently pursued her rights.”
