I am always concerned that a particular claim will not get the attention it deserves at the hearing level, due to the tremendous workload at the Social Security hearing offices. Each administrative law judge decides several hundred claims every year.
Furthermore, the medical basis for disability is often similar from one claim to another. Often, pain…
At the Portland, Maine Social Security hearing office, attorneys are asked to submit a "statement of the case," or hearing memorandum, several days prior to the hearing. This request comes from the Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge, in a letter that is mailed when the claim is ready to schedule for a hearing.
Social Security's regulations…
At a Social Security disability hearing, sometimes it is very clear that the claim should be granted. In such cases, a bench decision is available to the administrative law judge. A bench decision must be a fully favorable decision.
For a bench decision, the judge sets forth his reasons for granting the claim orally "from the bench"…
I had a Social Security disability hearing with an administrative law judge at the Manchester, New Hampshire ODAR recently. I prepared a hearing memorandum for the judge, as is my practice.
The judge acknowledged my hearing memorandum, and said "I wish more of your colleagues would prepare them."
A hearing memorandum is not required at the Manchester ODAR, but you should submit one…
A hearing memorandum is required at the Portland, Maine ODAR. Written by the claimant's representative, the hearing memorandum sets forth the background facts of the case, a description of the medical evidence, and (most importantly) a "theory of the case," with an analysis of the claim at each step of the sequential evaluation process.
The memorandum, which I write…
I have been thinking about the meaning of the "permits a rebuttable inference" language used by the judge in the previous post. All that means is that the judge may consider your prior work record as a factor when evaluating your credibility. It is a legalistic way of saying "I can hold your poor…
One of the items an administrative law judge may consider when deciding your disability case is whether or not you were steadlily employed prior to applying for disability. All else being equal, a disability claimant with a twenty year work record tends to be looked at more favorably than a person with the same impairments…
