Social Security has now posted data online showing Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) dispositions, showing how many allowances and denials per ALJ. One hint: the difference between the "total dispositions" and "total decisions" figure would be dismissals. A few ALJs will have a very high number of dismissals. These would probably be Hearing Office Chief ALJs (HOCALJs). HOCALJs typically issue the obvious dismissals of late requests for hearings and premature requests for hearings for their office.
3 comments:
A better answer will come from someone who's actually working in a hearing office. But I will suggest two moderately large categories of cases likely to end up as dismissals signed by a HOCALJ:
1. Attorney Advisor favorable decisions (see Chief Judge Bulletin 07-10)
2. State agency (favorable determinations on informal remand (see Chief Judge Bulletin 07-05)
Both categories of favorable actions are on cases that have pending requests for hearing. Neither the Attorney Advisor nor the State agency has sufficient authority to dispose of the pending request for a hearing. For each category of allowance, the request for a hearing therefore typically goes to a pro forma dismissal of the RH. The instructions for this are in the cited CJBs. SSA has published these online. A simple Google search for CJB 07-05 and CJB 07-10 ought to carry you right to them.
If I'm right about these things, then I am likely right about this next thing: this blog, as useful as it can sometimes be, sometimes includes statements that (gently speaking) are incomplete.
I withhold comment on the degree of frequency subsumed under "sometimes."
JOA
I hope I am not the only one disturbed to see there is an ALJ on pace to issue over 3700 dispositions in one year. thats over 14 decisions per workday...
Who will complain when he pays everyone?
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