Jan 6, 2009

Most Productive ALJs

The database posted by The Oregonian makes it possible to generate a list of the most and least productive Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in the country. I am not going to bother posting a list of the least productive ALJs in the country since it would be misleading. I can recognize many of those who would be on the list as being in supervisory positions. Others were sick or retired or died early in the year. Here is a list of the most productive Social Security's ALJs in fiscal year 2008.

Judge Name DecisionsAscending Total Dispositions Fully Favorable Partially Favorable Approval Rate Unfavorable Denial Rate Year
BUSICK, DENZEL R 838 945 649 49 74% 140 15% 2008
SPARKS, JAMES A 860 975 715 11 74% 134 14% 2008
PILOSENO, JR., DANIEL A 892 1,544 871 10 57% 11 1% 2008
BURKE, JAMES A 899 958 832 35 91% 32 3% 2008
DAWSON, MARK R 901 974 579 40 64% 282 29% 2008
CONGER, JR., PAUL S 905 981 816 10 84% 79 8% 2008
JEWELL, W. GARY 920 1,188 860 24 74% 36 3% 2008
MANICO, WILLIAM M 941 971 780 16 82% 145 15% 2008
TAYLOR, II, HARRY C 989 1,020 942 7 93% 40 4% 2008
WASHINGTON, CALVIN 1,038 1,106 981 27 91% 30 3% 2008
DAUGHERTY, DAVID B 1,250 1,291 1,238 1 96% 11 1% 2008
MCGRATH, FREDERICK 1,380 1,679 815 94 54% 471 28% 2008
BUNDY, W. THOMAS 1,450 1,732 400 93 28% 957 55% 2008
O'BRYAN JR., W HOWARD 1,690 1,750 1,670 10 96% 10 1% 2008
BRIDGES, CHARLES 1,939 2,194 1,820 23 84% 96 4% 2008
Prev10 Prev 71 72 73

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I am not going to bother posting a list of the least productive ALJs in the country since it would be misleading."

Or that you might happen to wind up in front of one of them one day.

Anonymous said...

"Productive" is misleading. With 2,080 hours in a work-year, those doing as many as 1,000 or more are spending 2 hours or less per case (including the hearing (if any), file review, decision-making, and reading the draft decisions.) That is simply not possible if they actually were reading the files or the decisions. You'll note most are simply paying great numbers, as those require less work. Another way to get high numbers is to dismiss cases.

A fair adjudicatory process requires a certain minimum of time to review the evidence and make a decision.

Anonymous said...

It is true the most productive ALJs tend to be claimant friendly. But what's wrong with that? Most people wait it out before a hearing are not out of work for nothing. An ALJ should grant 60-80 percent of cases. Anything less or more than that is probably a little suspicious.