My hearings this week with an administrative law judge (ALJ) to determine medical eligibility for Social Security disability benefits followed the usual pattern: opening remarks by the judge and then the claimant’s lawyer (me), the claimant’s testimony, and then testimony of a vocational witness regarding the claimant’s past relevant work, and whether various functional limitations
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ALJ hearings
Hearing Offices are caught up
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings, DDS
Here in Maine and New Hampshire, where I attend Social Security disability hearings with administrative law judges, the hearing offices have caught up. Hearings are being scheduled promptly, with 75+ days notice, after the hearing request is processed. Many years ago, when I started handling these cases, the hearing offices had a large backlog of…
Video (and telephone) hearings are now the most prevalent
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings, Practice notes
I had an in-person hearing at the Portland Hearing office last week, on September 10th. When I signed in, I noticed that no one had signed in to the hearing office since August 22nd, 3 weeks before. Sign-ins before that were similarly sparse.
The hearing offices used to have busy public spaces. Back in the…
Prehearing Letter from ALJ
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings, Practice notes
I recently had a disability case with a judge from the Albany hearing office. That judge sends out a letter 30 days before a scheduled hearing setting his expectations for evidence at the hearing. I really liked the letter. It is not standard practice for most judges to send a prehearing letter like this, at…
Check sheet for “on the record” requests
By Gordon Gates on
Social Security now provides a check sheet, in the form of an online fillable PDF, for on the records requests.
An “on the record” (OTR) request asks Social Security to grant your case on the record without a hearing. This request is for claims awaiting a hearing at the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). On the…
Allowance Rates for Disability Claims
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings, Practice notes
- 62% in 2010
- 58% in 2011
- 53% in 2012
- 48% in 2013
- 45% in
Reading the tea leaves after a hearing
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings
A hearing with an administrative law judge (ALJ) to determine medical eligibility for Social Security disability benefits usually follows a pattern: opening remarks by the judge and then the claimant’s lawyer, the claimant’s testimony, and then testimony of a vocational witness regarding the claimant’s past relevant work, and whether or not various functional limitations would…
5-day Rule – Memorial Day
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings, Practice notes
New evidence for Social Security claims must be submitted 5 business days ahead of the hearing. See 20 CFR 404.935(a) and HALLEX I-2-5-13. With a typical weekend, that’s 7 days ahead of the hearing. Holidays, which are of course not business days, must be accounted for as well. So beware the 3-day holiday weekend…
Reasons to Write a Hearing Brief
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings
…Drafting a brief is an endeavor that
Post Hearing Brief
By Gordon Gates on
Posted in ALJ hearings
At the close of a hearing, sometimes post-hearing argument is needed. Social Security’s rules allow for oral and/or written post-hearing argument, upon request. See HALLEX section I-2-6-76.
I prefer to submit a post-hearing brief, rather than make a statement at the close of the hearing. I think a brief has far more impact.…