tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post4203546964625498093..comments2024-03-28T10:15:57.792-04:00Comments on Social Security News: Proposed Rules Of Conduct For Appointed RepresentativesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-48513984721724416962016-09-01T10:49:58.616-04:002016-09-01T10:49:58.616-04:00the ALJ scheduling problem will slowly be fixed. ...the ALJ scheduling problem will slowly be fixed. As we keep hiring ALJs but shrink (or at least, don't grow) offices, there is more and more hearing room scarcity. Couple that with mandates that ALJs must consistently schedule a certain number of cases to keep telework and to get to their 500 dispo goal, you're going to start seeing more and more Monday and Friday hearings. <br /><br />With the way things are going in this regard, not every ALJ will be able to telework Monday and Wednesday, hold hearings Tuesday and Thursday, and take credit hours on Friday using the eight hours of credit ALJs recently have been allowed to earn over the course of a weekend while teleworking. But a lot still will ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-55480950597238547632016-08-21T00:32:39.314-04:002016-08-21T00:32:39.314-04:00hmmmmmm.......Monday and Friday empty hearing room...<br /><br />hmmmmmm.......Monday and Friday empty hearing rooms........sounds like the experience of telework across SSA........Telework allows staff to "start" an early weekend on Friday and extend it into Monday late starts........Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-31977448693852737592016-08-20T02:25:10.447-04:002016-08-20T02:25:10.447-04:00Well said. So quit your bellyaching!Well said. So quit your bellyaching!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-52272707898100108872016-08-20T02:15:21.648-04:002016-08-20T02:15:21.648-04:00You can comment on it based on your real-world exp...You can comment on it based on your real-world experiences. If you happen to be attending hearings based on the scheduling of others outside of your control, you simply state that. However, if you are a sole, or small firm, practitioner,you comment based on who has control of your scheduling. If someone else is controlling your scheduling, and you can't find a way to meet those scheduling demands, your issue is not with the proposed regulations, but with the people that you work with. That's all there is to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-38968924946495108312016-08-20T02:08:29.531-04:002016-08-20T02:08:29.531-04:00You do not need to ask such things of the represen...You do not need to ask such things of the representative. You should be asking those things of the judge involved. Does your judge allow for every possible reason thst the Rep is unavailable? Or does your judge only allow for postponement for the benefit of the claimant? Those are the questions that matter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-33611952069095967452016-08-20T01:55:00.006-04:002016-08-20T01:55:00.006-04:00You have no idea what you're talking about.You have no idea what you're talking about. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-15049978263550276992016-08-19T09:37:39.981-04:002016-08-19T09:37:39.981-04:00"The bigger problem is that if you go to most..."The bigger problem is that if you go to most ODARS on a Friday or Monday you will likely find that most of the hearing rooms are not being used." I believe you can file that one under judicial independence - ALJ's tell the scheduler what days they will do hearings. The present mandate from above is that ALJ's may only hold 60 hearings a month presumably so they will have the time to actually utilize the tools given to them (EBB) to review cases. Most of these ALJ's are incapable of utilizing two monitors at the same time! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-62696581930762166632016-08-19T04:48:53.005-04:002016-08-19T04:48:53.005-04:00@4:14 PM. "I am scheduled before another trib...@4:14 PM. "I am scheduled before another tribunal" is precisely what I was suggesting with my original post at 5:52. I have 9 different places I may need to be between 5 different ODARS. Will I give each one my availability or will I give it to some central scheduler in Baltimore? I'm just trying to fathom how this system may work. It's not to say that it can't but I don't currently see scheduling as a major problem from the rep side. The bigger problem is that if you go to most ODARS on a Friday or Monday you will likely find that most of the hearing rooms are not being used. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-10970439848962532952016-08-18T23:19:13.078-04:002016-08-18T23:19:13.078-04:00and the local bar is not up in arms en masse over ...and the local bar is not up in arms en masse over this, because?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-77361228154096041102016-08-18T16:23:24.637-04:002016-08-18T16:23:24.637-04:00The Mettaire, LA ODAR schedules hearings, sometime...The Mettaire, LA ODAR schedules hearings, sometimes less than a month out, without even calling attorney offices to confirm availability of a rep. They then refuse to entertain postponements. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-46974563100153427832016-08-18T16:14:42.978-04:002016-08-18T16:14:42.978-04:00except in real law land, the only acceptable reaso...except in real law land, the only acceptable reasons to ask for a continuance due to your availability are: 1) I am on secured leave; 2) I am scheduled already before another tribunal; 3) I'm kidnapped; 4) I'm dead. Also, all parties have to accept the continuance. How many of you let your client know you are going to ask for a postponement when you do or that their hearing was delayed because of your availability? I have a sneaking suspicion that if we automatically fired off a letter to the claimant noting the specifics of the postponement, this practice would slow down greatly.<br /><br />Look, I get that life happens and I don't even mind (within reason) working with reps on the front end while scheduling, but our postponement rate for reasons involving the rep's availability is way too high considering this front end effort. I always want to ask reps to their faces "does the claimant know that you asked for the postponement because of your availability?" "Do you feel even remotely bad that you are delaying the resolution of the most important issue of your client's life for your own reasons?" "Do you even care that your postponement will delay your client being paid if issued a favorable decision by a few months?" "If you don't have an open slot to attend a hearing over the next four months, are you capable of zealously representing all of your clients?"<br /><br />But, of course, I can't ask such things.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-85755593824523248432016-08-18T14:59:57.531-04:002016-08-18T14:59:57.531-04:00@ 12:11PM We make it work in State courts with re...@ 12:11PM We make it work in State courts with repetitive continuances and court staff who are accommodating to attorneys when its needed. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-46827150465885871882016-08-18T12:11:14.087-04:002016-08-18T12:11:14.087-04:00@ 5:52
Maybe you should talk to some of your atto...@ 5:52<br /><br />Maybe you should talk to some of your attorney brethren who practice in State courts and find out how they manage to attend scheduled hearings/trials/etc. when they aren't involved in the scheduling process at all (save for small windows of secured leave) and have ZERO idea how long it will take to have the motion/trial/etc. heard (most courts give you "AM" or "PM" only, and even that isn't accurate a lot of the time). Somehow they make it work...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-73873550582788899172016-08-17T17:52:10.425-04:002016-08-17T17:52:10.425-04:00To get back to the original topic of the proposed ...To get back to the original topic of the proposed changes, I am surprised no one has brought up this proposed change:<br /><br />"we propose adding an affirmative duty in ยง 404.1740(b)(3) requiring<br />representatives to provide to us, on our request, a specified number of dates and times the representative is available for a hearing."<br /><br />I cannot conceive how this is workable and who would administer it. I go to 9 different hearing locations presently, each one is a different distance of travel. What happens if 2 ODARs want me in the same place at the same time. <br /><br />Even in a situation of dealing with just a single ODAR, the time we allot for a hearing varies based on who the ALJ is as some do 30 min hearings and other take 1:30. How would this be handled?<br /><br />Its all fine and good to specify a proposed change, but when it doesn't come with any details, how can we even truly understand or comment on it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-53128053517587349432016-08-17T16:47:55.983-04:002016-08-17T16:47:55.983-04:00I'm tired of the knocks on non-attorney reps. ...I'm tired of the knocks on non-attorney reps. Like attorneys, the quality of representation provided varies. Attorneys fly in and call their client in the waiting room hoping they are there and meeting them for the first time right before the hearing. Since representing ss/ssi claimants is all I do, I have an interest in developing the case early in the process and working with the claimant to make a good case. Once I have submitted the representation forms, I only withdraw from a case if the claimant fires me (in writing). If the claimant is not disabled or the disability can't be distinguished from drug and alcohol use, I don't take the case in the first place. <br />I do see problems with SSA only acknowledging individual reps and not law firms. I got a case that had been in a law firm but 3 different reps had worked on the case, left the firm, and the claimant went to the first hearing with no rep present. The firm kept the case and messed it up, but the successive individuals who worked on the case did what they could when they had each had the case (which wasn't long). <br /> <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-44464025006390988432016-08-17T16:11:59.181-04:002016-08-17T16:11:59.181-04:00I put "firms" when I meant to put "...I put "firms" when I meant to put "firm's". I wish there was an edit button! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-67442693113010900732016-08-17T16:10:02.619-04:002016-08-17T16:10:02.619-04:00@3:28,
Some argue ALJs aren't real judges. T...@3:28,<br /><br />Some argue ALJs aren't real judges. They can't issue enforceable orders, hold people in contempt, preside over one limited area of law, and don't preside over matters involving formal rules of evidence or civil procedure. That knife cuts both ways. SSD is a volume practice. There is no other way to make money when each case only pays a max of $6,000, and the average (at least our average case) pays $2400. In today's environment, there is 0 guarantee of even rock solid cases being paid. In the last year, I've had a claimant with 3 back surgeries in 2 years and a good work history denied by both the ALJ and AC. In today's environment, you will lose a large portion of cases you take on, and since most claimants are civilly judgment proof, you will not collect fees on many of these cases. Our firms largest expense after employment of staff is unreimbursed medical record bills. It's a way tougher business than you think. If it was as easy as you say, you would see people clamoring to enter the marketplace and business booming (like 2009, 2010). Today, the largest Disability firm in the country went bankrupt, many solo practitioners have retired, and many small firms have shifted their practice away from disability.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-91011910400667903222016-08-17T15:28:11.170-04:002016-08-17T15:28:11.170-04:00"Can you name another area of law where the f..."Can you name another area of law where the fee is capped at $6,000, no matter how much work you put into a claim?"<br /><br />Lol, can you name another area of law where you are directly sent guaranteed payment? Where your burdens of production, persuasion, etc. are all as easy as here? A previous commenter did a pretty slick job at trying to equate an ALJ's duty to a court subpoenaing a hostile witness or party for evidence, but that is not hardly the burden SSA has. SSA has the complete and total burden to make sure all relevant evidence is in the file EVEN IF AN ATTORNEY IS REPPING THE CLAIMANT! Not just to extract evidence being secreted away by unwilling parties--an affirmative duty to seek out and get all relevant evidence even if an attorney is on the case. Be honest, there is no other system like that.<br /><br />I don't even have a problem with SSA reps, the local bar around me is full of good attorneys and even nonattorneys. But please. No attorney in their right mind can deny this area of law is not nearly as demanding as far as your professional obligations, timelines, scheduling cases, getting paid, etc. than pretty much every other area of law. Yours and every other Bar association in the US doesn't even consider repping claimant's at ODAR the practice of law, so...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-90441194150356189842016-08-17T14:28:23.364-04:002016-08-17T14:28:23.364-04:00It appears from the outside looking in that there ...It appears from the outside looking in that there is a culture of mistrust and suspicion within the agency towards claimants and claimants reps. All reps seem to have been tarred with the Conn brush. It seems that we have many people within the agency doing everything they can to make Disability practice as onerous and non-remunerative as possible. What these short sighted people fail to realize is that, in a country with Due Process, the system cannot work without claimant's representatives. A hearing often takes twice as long with an unrepped claimant. <br /><br />To folks at the agency: you can still do your jobs and not be giving away benefits to undeserving applicants while being cooperative, easy to work with, and behave in a polite/professional manner towards claimants and claimants representatives. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-80896423788909701042016-08-17T13:35:38.519-04:002016-08-17T13:35:38.519-04:00@10:19
Not 9:32, but I could name VA disability r...@10:19<br /><br />Not 9:32, but I could name VA disability representation and it being capped at $10 last I checked. I agree with your point though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-47792893711275470772016-08-17T10:19:23.516-04:002016-08-17T10:19:23.516-04:00@ 9:32,
In civil court (State and Federal), a jud...@ 9:32,<br /><br />In civil court (State and Federal), a judge can and will subpoena evidence from uncooperative sources. Try getting an administrative subpoena enforced. It's an apples and oranges comparison. Can you name another area of law where the fee is capped at $6,000, no matter how much work you put into a claim?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-87819860116457379492016-08-17T09:32:01.677-04:002016-08-17T09:32:01.677-04:00@8:45 AM,
That was covered in the second part of ...@8:45 AM,<br /><br />That was covered in the second part of the post. Read the whole thing, and then name another area of law where the other side can be compelled to do your discovery for you if you are terrible at your job. Try telling an insurance defense attorney that he/she has a duty to develop your claim for you.<br /><br />SSA representation doesn't begin to resemble legal practice until a federal court appeal is filed. Even then, the parties are held to very different standards of conduct.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-81874931631377859172016-08-17T09:16:04.264-04:002016-08-17T09:16:04.264-04:00Gentlemen and Ladies, as I have said before, this ...Gentlemen and Ladies, as I have said before, this is the largest law firm in the world, managed by non-attorneys. Why would expect less than idiocy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-57273418315408781932016-08-17T08:45:24.506-04:002016-08-17T08:45:24.506-04:00"Because representing claimants in front of S..."Because representing claimants in front of SSA is not practicing law. There is no opposing counsel to cross-examine claimants or challenge the rep's arguments."<br /><br />Ah, this fallacious argument again. If you have practiced SSA law in the past 5 years, many ALJs can and do challenge claimants and reps vigorously. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19246708.post-6585025989224808672016-08-17T08:17:28.225-04:002016-08-17T08:17:28.225-04:007:42 AM If that is so, please help me! If I can...7:42 AM If that is so, please help me! If I can't get a doctor to document my limitations, are statements by doctors about "polyarthritic pain" in the back, both hands, both shoulders, knees, etc. due to ankylosing spondylitis, oesteoarthritis and fibromyalgia along with my testimony enough to convince an ALJ based upon "merits." I do have other, non-exertional limitations as well. DDS determined I could do sedentary work. I don't know about doctors in other areas, but those in mine aren't the best record keepers. The rheumatogist who diagnosed me with fibromyalgia said, when I asked her to elaborate in her notes a defendable diagnosis, "I make my records for medical purposes, not for Social Security!" I have asked my primary doctor, two other rheumatalogists and my neurologist to help me, all of which fallen on deaf ears. I believe they are afraid to help, not just not wanting to be bothered. The rheumatology clinic (the only one in the area) has an official policy that prohibits it. So, what is someone supposed to do? Should the "merits" of a case be decided only upon the quality of records a doctor keeps? How do you find doctors that are better record keepers?Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01430141227801711657noreply@blogger.com