Lucia Doesn't Pose A Catastrophic Threat

     The prospect of huge numbers of Appeals Council remands as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Lucia v. SEC worries a lot of people. It would certainly add to the severe backlogs at the hearing level but let's not get carried away. As of the end of June there were 89,157 cases pending at the Appeals Council. So far this fiscal year, Administrative Law Judges are disposing of an average of 60,746 cases per month. This means that if every case pending at the Appeals Council is remanded for a new hearing as a result of Lucia, the backlog at the hearing level would increase by about one and a half months. Certainly, any increase in the backlog is undesirable but a one and a half month increase in the backlog is hardly catastrophic. Ending the backlog at the Appeals Council level would be a good side effect. Appeals Council employees who suddenly lack regular job duties could help with the decision writing backlog at the hearing level. Large numbers of Lucia remands wouldn't destroy the system -- not that the system is anything to brag about.