Understanding Your Administrative Law Judge: What Every Disability Claimant Needs to Know Before Their Hearing

 

Insider Tips: What Disability Attorneys Know About Administrative Law Judges

 

You have received a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) stating that your disability case is ready for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). After waiting months or, in some cases, years, for a decision in your Social Security Disability case, you are one step closer to having your day in court.

 

You may experience unexpected emotions, such as anxiety about the administrative law judge hearing, uncertainty about whether you have a reasonable, fair ALJ assigned to your case, or confusion about the distinction between ALJs and judges in other courts. All these feelings are normal.

 

Here’s the truth: the hearing before an administrative law judge is an excellent opportunity to win your disability case (the data proves this). You have time to prepare, develop the evidence of record, and tell the ALJ face-to-face how your severe medical impairments limit your ability to work and complete daily living activities. After so much waiting, you get to tell the whole story of how your disability affects your independence, mobility, and ability to work full-time.

 

After winning thousands of disability claims over the years, I’ve seen how researching your administrative law judge and understanding how that specific ALJ conducts their hearings can make the difference between approval with the allowance of SSDI or SSI benefits, or another denial. This knowledge is one of the many reasons to consider hiring a disability attorney to help you win your case.

 

Now, let me walk you through the role of the administrative law judge in your Social Security case, so you can give yourself the best chance of winning your claim.

 

 

What Exactly Is an Administrative Law Judge?

 

Back in 1946, the United States Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), whose “core pieces” cover “how federal administrative agencies make rules and how they adjudicate administrative litigation.” Think of the APA as the rulebook for how all federal agencies write regulations, handle disputes, and do their jobs. 

 

One of the biggest things the APA created was the job of administrative law judge. Under the APA, the ALJ’s function is “to ensure fairness in administrative proceedings before Federal Government agencies.” These ALJs are “inferior Officers” of the United States within the meaning of the Appointments Clause found in the U.S. Constitution.

 

Multiple sections of the APA define the ALJ’s role in making agency decisions required by statute – in your case, a determination of disability when you apply for a payment under the Social Security Act.  

 

Additionally, the United States Supreme Court has addressed the role of the ALJ in disability claims. The court held in Sims v. Apfel, 530 US 103 (2000), that Social Security Disability proceedings “are inquisitorial rather than adversarial. It is the ALJ’s duty to investigate the facts and develop the arguments both for and against granting benefits.” Further, the ALJ should conduct a hearing “in an informal, nonadversary manner.”

 

An administrative law judge presiding over your disability claim may:

 

• • Set the date, time, and place of your disability hearing.
  • Continue (postpone) the hearing for a reasonable period.
  • Ask you to swear to tell the truth or affirm that you will;
  • Issue subpoenas compelling the attendance of witnesses to the hearing.
  • Issue subpoenas duces tecum compelling the production of documents. In Social Security Disability cases, medical records, earnings reports, and school records are the most commonly subpoenaed documents by ALJs.
  • Ask you to complete a Consent to Release Information form to obtain medical records from your doctors. This form is less formal than a subpoena.
  • Rule on motions and other procedural issues. For example, in disability cases, you may move to keep the evidentiary record open if you have not received all of your medical reports, or you may move to strike the vocational expert’s testimony as speculative.
  • Determine how to conduct the hearing, so long as the process complies with the Social Security Act, Social Security Rulings, and the Program Operations Manual System (POMS), which is “a primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process claims for Social Security benefits.”  
  • Examine you and other witnesses at the hearing.
  • Rule on evidence questions.
  • Decide your claim for SSDI or SSI benefits, which may be fully favorable, partially favorable, or unfavorable.
  • Direct the assignment of a representative payee to handle your benefits.
  • Dismiss your application for disability benefits.
  • Take any other action authorized by law.

 

What is the Typical Background of an Administrative Law Judge?

 

ALJs are not your typical courtroom judges, such as those found in state circuit courts, federal district courts, workers compensation commissions, or appellate courts.

 

From what I’ve seen, administrative law judges with the Social Security Administration (and the majority of ALJs work for this agency) typically have much less experience in disability law than judges in other courts have in the matters they preside over. For example, the administrative law judges I regularly see when representing disability claimants in Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Baltimore have backgrounds in insurance defense, military affairs (a retired Judge Advocate General), prosecuting crimes as a Commonwealth’s Attorney, and working for the Federal Election Commission. Few represented individuals in disability claims.

 

At a minimum, a disability ALJ must meet licensure (authorized to practice law in any state, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) and experience requirements (seven years of experience as a licensed attorney), and pass an examination given by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Knowing that some administrative law judges have no experience representing hurt or disabled individuals can complicate procedural matters and make it more challenging to prove your case. Although an ALJ’s decision should not be influenced by personal biases and personal, cultural, or political beliefs, it still happens. An ALJ’s lack of understanding or familiarity with the struggles that people living paycheck to paycheck, or dealing with substance addiction, or how workers compensation works (many occupational injuries or illnesses lead to claims for Social Security Disability) can lead to unfavorable outcomes for clients.

 

How Much Independence Does an Administrative Law Judge Have?

 

ALJs have a significant amount of independence.

 

For example, administrative law judges are exempt from performance evaluations and reviews under the Social Security Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Supervision of an ALJ’s performance of the functions of holding disability hearings and issuing written decisions is limited, if it exists at all.

 

The only time that the SSA may take an adverse action against an ALJ (suspension, a reduction in grade, a decrease in pay, removal) is when “good cause” exists. This standard differs from the “good behavior” standard required to remove Article III judges in that it is much broader. And it is intentionally vague, covering situations ranging from physical or mental incapacity to insubordination, to lewd conduct, to ethical violations.

 

That said, the key takeaway is that administrative law judges have a lot of power over your disability case.

 

What’s the Difference Between a Hearing Office Chief Administration Law Judge (HOCALJ) and an ALJ?

 

No difference exists between an HOCALJ and an ALJ when it comes to disability hearings.

 

An HOCALJ spends most of their time in activities identical to those of regular ALJs. The main difference between the two jobs is that the HOCALJ also manages support staff in the hearing office.

 

Why Did I End Up with My Particular Administrative Law Judge?

 

The SSA employs more than 1,000 ALJs. Who you have as an administrative law judge in your disability case is usually “luck of the draw.”

 

When you request a hearing with an ALJ after receiving denials of your initial application and upon reconsideration, your hearing request goes to the SSA’s Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge (OCALJ). That office oversees the national disability hearing system.

 

OCALJ determines which hearing office will process your claim. Although your geographic location usually determines which regional hearing office will handle your claim, OCALJ may assign your case to a different office depending on the availability of ALJs.

 

Each administrative law judge has a “home” hearing office, and one of the ALJs assigned to the hearing office where your claim ends up will preside over the disability hearing. Which ALJ you have in that office is random; the U.S. Code says that “administrative law judges shall be assigned to cases in rotation so far as practicable.”

 

What Makes Some ALJs More Likely to Approve Cases?

 

The Social Security Administration publishes data for individual administrative law judges. You can see how many claims a particular ALJ approved, denied, or dismissed in a given year.

 

Some ALJs have higher claim approval rates than others. Typically, these ALJs previously represented claimants, injured workers, or auto accident victims in private practice and have a better understanding of how permanent impairment and disabilities affect daily life and the ability to work. In comparison, administrative law judges who have only worked for government agencies may focus heavily on the technical aspects, to the detriment of the human toll of disabilities.

 

Knowing the statistics for your ALJ not only helps you predict the outcome but also helps you tailor your hearing strategy. For example, if an ALJ has a low approval rate, I may obtain more testimony from you and witnesses at the hearing, and object more to vocational expert testimony than I would otherwise, anticipating the need to appeal an unfavorable decision.

 

Take the Next Step: Talk to an Attorney About Your Administrative Law Judge

 

If you’ve gotten notice of an ALJ hearing, now is the time to prepare. But you must act quickly. The deadlines for submitting evidence or requesting a different format for your hearing come fast.

 

Don’t wait until the last minute or have too much pride to get help. You’ve already shown persistence and willpower, sticking with the process up to this point. Now, enlist the help of an experienced lawyer to assist you in recovering benefits, allowing you to start the next chapter of your life.

 

The administrative law judge has a lot of power over your future. But you don’t have to face them alone.