It's getting harder to get an application for disability benefits approved at the hearing level. I do not like having to say that, but I fear it is true. The early FY 2012 stats already show a decline for several ALJs at my local hearing offices. I expect in a few months, when we see updated…

Beginning last week, Social Security's hearing offices do not disclose in advance of a disability hearing the identity of the particular administrative law judge (ALJ) that is assigned to a claim. So your hearing notice will arrive in the mail without stating the name of the judge that will hear the case and decide the claim.

When a Social Security administrative law judge issues an unfavorable decision, and that decision is later vacated upon appeal to the Appeals Council or to federal court, the SSA has a policy of sending the claim back the very same ALJ that denied the claim the first time around. Strange, but true. A HALLEX…

It has been a little over four months since I published my ebook, entitled 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing. Those who are waiting for their Social Security disability hearings will find helpful information in the book, and can learn how to make their claims stronger.

Although I wrote the…

There is a truly excellent decision by Connecticut U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kravitz on the topic of medical expert testimony by telephone at a Social Security disability hearing. The case is Edwards v. Astrue (D. Conn. August 10, 2011). Download Edwards v. Astrue. 

Kudos to New York attorney Jeff Delott, who wrote about the Edwards decision recently on his legal blog, after learning about it at the Second Circuit meeting at the Fall NOSSCR Conference. Please read Jeff's post about the Edwards decision.

The Edwards decision concerns telephone testimony by a medical expert witness. Sometimes an administrative law judge arranges for a medical expert (ME) to testify at a disability hearing. A medical expert is always a doctor, when the issue is the claimant's physical impairments. The ME is usually psychologist when an opinion regarding the claimant's mental impairments is desired (occasionally, both a doctor and a psychologist will appear at a hearing). A medical expert is available to assist the judge to determine a claimant's medically determinable impairments, and whether or not a medical condition meets or equals a listed impairment. Frequently the ME will offer an opinion on the claimant's functional limitations. 

Certain judges use medical experts more often than others. We disability lawyers know which judges typically utilize medical experts, and we know the medical experts who routinely testify in our locale. 

Sometimes the medical expert is not going to be friendly to the claimant's cause. There are some bad apples out there in medical expert land, who are known to consistently (and often forcefully) testify that a claimant's impairments do not meet a listing and do not impose disabling functional limitations. When the judge lines up a "bad apple" expert to testify at your hearing, you know you have an uphill battle.

Since these bad apple medical experts tend to testify at hearings all over the country, they almost always testify at the hearing by telephone. Which brings us to Edwards v. Astrue, and Judge Kravitz's truly excellent decision. Continue Reading Medical Expert Testimony by Telephone at an ALJ Hearing

I have a hearing coming up with a judge who, historically, grants just 33% of disability cases. For both the disability claimant and for the Social Security disability lawyer, that is scary.

In general, I do not worry about ALJ disposition rates these days. I am more concerned with the match between the claimant…

I counsel clients with a Social Security disability claim to be specific about their functional limitations. This is especially true at a Social Security disability hearing, where the administrative law judge is trying to assess your functional limitations to establish your residual functional capacity (RFC). It does not help the judge to say “I can’t…

Here in the Boston Region, we receive 75-day notice before a Social Security disability hearing by an administrative law judge.

Once a request for hearing is processed, the claimant receives a routine form letter from the hearing office that sets the stage for an eventual hearing. The letter starts like this:

Thank you for your…