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The June 2009 Social Security Forum, which is published by NOSSCR for its members, has a good update regarding Requests for Hearings by ALJ.

SSA has revised HALLEX I-2-0-40, which deals with the Request for Hearing filing requirements. The HALLEX provision has been revised to reflect the elimination of the signature requirement when filing a request for hearing.

A claimant should still use form HA-501 to request a hearing, but neither the claimant’s nor a representative’s signature is required on the form.

The Portland, Maine hearing office is still #1 in the country, according to the latest statistics released by the SSA and republished in Social Security News. The Portland hearing office has an average processing time of 270 days. Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision is issued.

Since the Portland hearing office gives 75 days notice prior to a hearing, that means that a hearing is scheduled within 6 months of the claim arriving at the Portland, Maine ODAR. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the Reconsideration level in Maine is turning into a black hole. Claims at Reconsideration are going months without even being assigned to a disability examiner.

By comparison, in New Hampshire (which is a prototype state that skips the Reconsideration step), the Manchester hearing office has an average processing time of 379 days, which is 109 days longer than in Maine. But since months are not being lost in New Hampshire waiting for Reconsideration, claims are moving through the system much quicker.

 

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

Reason #5 – The Claim has a Glitch

Reason #6 – Have the Judge "On the Same Page"

Reason #7 – Differentiate Your Claim

Reason #8 – Get a Bench Decision

Reason #9 – Your Client Deserves It

Reason #10 – You Will Win More Claims

A hearing memorandum should be written for every Social Security disability hearing, and submitted well in advance of the the hearing. The list of best practices for claimants' representatives includes request for concise pre-hearing briefs. I always write a hearing memorandum in Maine and New Hampshire, which are the two states where I handle disability claims.

I hope these top ten reasons have persuaded you to write a pre-hearing memorandum for each and every hearing!

Update: See a sample hearing brief.

Well organized ODARs, like the Portland, Maine hearing office, send out a Representative Report T3 each month. The report lists all your clients' claims at that ODAR, sorted by the date of the hearing request. The report gives the status of each and every claim.

This report is a goldmine for the Social Security disability practitioner. In addition to the status of all your claims, you can see at a glance which claims will be set for hearing next. This allows your staff to update the medical records for those claims, so that you are already prepared for the hearing when the notice arrives in the mail.

If you are not receiving a representative report regularly from your ODAR, ask for one. Just fax a letter to the hearing office director and ask for a Representative Report T3. I did this recently for the Manchester, New Hampshire hearing office, and received a report back right away.

Take a look at these statistics for 2008, which were recently released by the SSA and published by NOSSCR in the May 2009 Social Security Forum.

The top row shows that 36% of the disability and SSI initial applications were granted nationwide. 64% were denied. These are national statistics, but the allowance rate in Maine is almost identical.

The second row shows that, of the denied claims that were appealed, 86% were denied again at the Reconsideration level. That is very frustrating, and I warn clients all the time that their claims are likely to be denied again at Reconsideration. Tim Moore has a good recent post about why so many claims are denied again at Reconsideration.

But look at what happens at the hearing level (row 3). 63% of the claims are allowed. Other statistics show that success rates are improved when a lawyer is involved. So if you can appeal your denied claim, get some help, and hang in there for a hearing with an administrative law judge, your chances of approval rise dramatically.

There is another lesson in these statistics. Most people do not appeal that initial denial. In 2008, there were 2,526,298 initial claims, but only 546,599 Reconsideration determinations. Now there are ten states, including New Hampshire, that don't have the intermediate Reconsideration step, so you can't exactly compare those two sets of statistics. Nevertheless, it is clear that the majority of Social Security disability claimants did not appeal the initial denial.

Don't make that mistake! Appeal your denial within 60 days, get help with your Social Security disability claim, and be better prepared for your hearing when it arrives. That way, you have a much better chance for the disability benefits you deserve. The statistics prove it.

 

We have arrived at reason #10 of our ten top reasons to write a hearing brief.

Reason #10  You will win more claims

Trust me on this. This is the reason that persuaded me to write hearing briefs years ago. We learned that the judges were really reading them. And we won more cases. All the previous reasons in this list lead to this one. You will win more claims.

I hope these reasons have persuaded you to write a pre-hearing memorandum for each and every Social Security disability claim. As always, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

 

We are listing ten top reasons to write a hearing brief.

Reason #9  Your Client Deserves It

Would you ever tell your client that his claim is not important enough for you to spend a few hours writing a pre-hearing memorandum? Of course not. Your client is relying on you to do everything possible to achieve an award of disability benefits. You know how important those benefits are to your client. So just do it.

 

We are listing ten top reasons to write a hearing brief. Look for a reason a day through the 10th of July.

Reason #8  Get a bench decision

If your claim qualifies for a bench decision under HALLEX I-5-1-17, mention it to the judge. A bench decision can take a little preparation, so give the judge a heads up in the hearing memorandum.

 

We are listing ten top reasons to write a hearing brief. Look for a reason a day through the 10th of July.

Reason #7  Differentiate Your Claim

ALJs hear a lot of claims – several hundred a year. I am always concerned about my case getting lost in shuffle. A hearing memorandum provides an opportunity to differentiate your claim. There is something unique about your claimant's story. Maybe there is an outstanding prior work record, or the claimant heroically tried to go back to work after onset, or the claimant's injury occurred during military service. Be sure to tell the judge about it in your hearing memorandum.

 

We are listing ten top reasons to write a hearing brief in the first ten days in July. The list of best practices for claimants' representatives includes a request for concise pre-hearing briefs. Look for a reason a day through the 10th of July.

Reason #6  Have the judge "on the same page"

When a claim is unexpectedly denied, it sometimes seems that the judge had a completely different view of the claim than you did. A hearing memorandum reduces the risk of these unexpected denials, by clearly setting forth your assessment of the medical evidence and the legal reasoning supporting the claim. And since the hearing memorandum stays in the record, the judge can refer back to it long after your opening statement at the hearing has been forgotten.

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I have two disability hearings in Portland tomorrow morning.  The hearing briefs have already been submitted. Interestingly, the husband of claimant #1 recommended me a year ago as a Maine Social Security disability lawyer to the husband of claimant #2, who then retained me. And now, a year later, the two claimants have back-to-back hearings with the same U.S. Administrative Law Judge. Both husbands will be in attendance.