The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) and the Office of
Disability Adjudication and Review (“ODAR” – SSA’s Hearing Office) officially ended
their secret Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) policy on April 20, 2013. Since
December 2011, SSA had started withholding the name of the ALJ assigned to a
claimant’s case at the hearing level. Under this new secret policy, you would
not be told the name of the Judge assigned until the day of the hearing, as was
customarily permitted in SSDI/SSI law (and in almost every other area of law in
the United States). Each ODAR had a different rule as to when the name of the
ALJ would be revealed. Some ODARs would tell you the name of the ALJ when you arrived
at the hearing location prior to the hearing. Other ODARs required that you
wait until you physically entered the hearing room and saw the ALJ for
yourself, rather than provide you with any earlier identification of the Judge
assigned.
SSA claimed they had created this policy to prevent
individuals from picking and choosing a preferred ALJ for a claim. However,
this rationale is flawed. Besides the rare exception when an individual can
object to a video hearing, once an ALJ is randomly assigned to a claim by SSA,
the only way that the claim would be reassigned to a different ALJ, is if a
claimant moved out of the jurisdiction assigned to the ODAR or if a Judge noted
a conflict of interest in a particular claim. People cannot afford to move
simply to look for a more favorable jurisdiction. Thus, the real motive behind
the secret ALJ policy is unclear.
The issue was being litigated. In addition, attorneys
(including us) were filing Freedom of Information Act requests with SSA
demanding to know the name of the ALJ assigned, so we could better prepare our
clients for their hearings. After all, every Judge conducts his or her hearing
differently and not knowing the particular Judge assigned to a claim until the
day of the hearing puts a claimant at a disadvantage. Some Judges want an
opening brief to be submitted before a hearing. Other Judges have their own
individual questionnaires that they want completed prior to a hearing.
Thankfully, SSA has listened to the complaints and the secret ALJ policy is
officially over.
Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot us an email at info@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017.
