Every now and then at a Social Security disability hearing, the issue of failure to follow prescribed medical treatment is raised by the administrative law judge.
You don’t want this issue at your hearing. If a claimant has failed to follow prescribed medical treatment, and the prescribed treatment would restore the claimant’s ability to work…
The SSA has just released, and posted on its website, a goldmine of current statistics regarding the Social Security hearing offices (ODARs) and judges.
Check out the ALJ Disposition Data. These Fiscal Year 2010 statistics, which run through December 2009, are the most current available. Notably, the data includes the disposition statistics for new ALJs…
Social Security Ruling 96-8p is a cornerstone ruling when it comes to the factors that must be considered for a claimant’s residual functional capacity. I reread the Ruling every now and then, and always gain an additional insight.
The Ruling is especially helpful in the area of “full-time work.” Often a person is disabled because…
The News Journal in Delaware published a new database of ALJ denial rates around the country, as part its recent online Special Report. What is remarkable about this database is that is is easily searchable by state or by hearing office. So you can see how your state and hearing office compare to the…
The limitations on your ADLs are an important part of your hearing testimony, and sometimes the details of your ADLs can help to establish your disability claim.
Sometimes those details ring so true, that you just know the person is telling the truth. There is no direct correlation between these details and a person's ability…
One of the topics that is almost always covered in a Social Security disability hearing is the claimant's activities of daily living, or ADLs. Typically, you will describe what you do from morning until night on an average day. ALJs listen to this testimony with an ear for inconsistencies. So for example if…
There is an excellent post over at the Social Security Disability Hacker blog, entitled Tips for Effective Hearing Representation. I mentioned it in last week's roundup, but the article deserves more attention, because it has so much good information.
The post is a summary of the NOSSCR conference presentation by Charles Martin and Sarah Bohr.
I am still mining the gold from Charles Martin’s excellent set of practice tips, entitled Ten Common Reasons a Hearing or Court Appeal May Be Lost, which appeared in the January 2009 Social Security Forum.
Listed below are three related reasons from Mr. Martin why a hearing may be lost (I have added links for…
The hearing offices have senior staff attorneys, called attorney advisors, who review claims prior to hearing for possible on the record decisions. If an on the record (OTR) decision is appropriate, they draft a fully favorable decision. If an OTR is not appropiate, they complete an "Attorney Advisor Worksheet," and the claim goes back to its place in line…
In the first ten days of July, we listed ten top reasons to write a hearing brief. Here is a recap:
Reason #1 – Be a Professional
Reason #2 – Be More Prepared for the Hearing
Reason #3 – Test Drive Your "Theory of the Case"
Reason #4 – The Judge Wants a Memorandum
…
