Last Minute Shopping

     I was at a store this afternoon. I wasn't buying a Christmas gift. I was there for a more routine reason. There was a fellow ahead of me making quite a purchase. He said he was doing all his Christmas shopping then and there. From the looks of things he was buying presents for at least 25 people. It was a convenience store. He was buying lottery tickets.

Binder And Binder Bankruptcy Details

     A few more details are emerging on the Binder and Binder bankruptcy. As I predicted, they have discontinued advertising. They're still taking on new cases, however. They say that their revenues last year were 20% below their projection, which makes it surprising that they were able to avoid bankruptcy so long. They've shut down offices in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Chicago, Newark, N.J., Raleigh, N.C., and Seattle. More of their offices will close in June.

Merry Christmas

Christmas In Japan

Yes, that's really Colonel Sanders. KFC does ten times more business in December in Japan than in any other month. “The prevailing wisdom here is that Americans eat chicken on the 25th.”

Coburn's Parting Shot

Tom Coburn has just finished his career as a U.S. Senator. On the way out, he introduced S. 3003 which may or may not influence how the upcoming Congress will deal with the Social Security disability programs. Here are a few excerpts from Coburn's bill.

• With the exception of individuals who are classified by the Commissioner of Social Security as ‘medical improvement not expected’, any individual who, under this section ... is entitled for any month to both an old-age insurance benefit and a disability insurance benefit ...  shall only be entitled to the old-age insurance benefit for such month, as reduced for such month pursuant to subsection (q)(1). [Meaning that if you're over 62 and drawing Disability Insurance Benefits, your benefits will be reduced. This would immediately reduce benefits for about 20% of recipients of those benefits.]
• [Social Security disability benefits may be terminated if there is evidence] that would be sufficient to support a finding in an initial determination that the individual is not under a disability and is able to engage in substantial gainful activity. [Essentially ending the medical improvement standard.]
• In the case of an individual [who] ... is determined to be under a disability, and is classified by the Commissioner of Social Security as ‘medical improvement expected’, the termination month applicable to the individual shall be the 35th month following the first month after the individual’s waiting period... [Meaning that if Social Security has determined that your disability is expected to improve, the agency doesn't have to go through any process to cut off your benefits. They're just automatically terminated after 35 months. You have to reapply.]
• ... [A]ge shall not be considered as a vocational factor for any individual who has not attained the age that is 12 years less than the retirement age for such individual [which would be 54 current and would eventually raise to 55] ...
• Any review of an initial adverse determination with respect to an application for disability insurance benefits ... by reason of being under a disability shall only be made before an administrative law judge in a hearing... [Meaning that reconsideration would be eliminated.]
• ... [M]edical evidence ... shall not be received if the evidence is submitted less than 5 days prior to the date on which the hearing is held unless the individual can show that the evidence is material and there is good cause for the failure to submit it before the deadline, but in no case shall medical evidence be received if is ... based on information obtained during the period that begins after a determination is made by an administrative law judge; or ... submitted more than 1 year after a determination is made by an administrative law judge ...
• An individual and, if applicable, such individual’s representative shall submit, in its entirety and without redaction, all relevant medical evidence known to the individual or the representative to the Commissioner of Social Security.
• Each case that is scheduled for a hearing to determine if an individual is under a disability ... shall be assigned to a disability hearing attorney as soon as practicable. ... The disability hearing attorney assigned to a case under paragraph shall ...  develop the evidentiary record ... [A]fter the hearing, if the attorney finds that the evidence clearly does not support the determination of the administrative law judge that the individual is disabled, recommend to the Appeals Council ...review the determination on its own motion. [Meaning that there's a government representative at the hearing who can appeal from a decision approving a disability claim.]
• The Commissioner of Social Security shall establish rules under which an administrative law judge may impose fines and other sanctions the Commissioner determines to be appropriate on a representative for failure to follow the Commissioner’s rules and regulations.
• [I]n no circumstance shall opinion evidence from any source be given controlling weight.
• For purposes of evaluating the credibility of an individual’s medical evidence, an administrative law judge ... may require the individual to undergo a symptom validity test either prior to or after the hearing.
• For purposes of evaluating the credibility of an individual’s medical evidence, an administrative law judge responsible ... shall be permitted to consider information about the individual obtained from publicly available social media.
• The Commissioner of Social Security shall establish rules and regulations relating to the fees payable to representatives of individuals claiming entitlement to disability insurance benefits  ... Such rules and regulations shall ... require representatives to account for the work performed with respect to a case ... [I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.]
• [T]he Inspector General of the Social Security Administration shall conduct a review of the practices of a sample of the highest-earning claimant representatives to ensure compliance with the policies of the Social Security Administration. ...
• [T]he Equal Access to Justice Act ... shall not apply to ... any review under this title of a determination of disability ... or  ... if new evidence is submitted by an individual after a hearing to determine whether or not the individual is under a disability, judicial review of a final determination of disability ...
• [T]he Division of Quality of the Office of Appellate Operations of the Social Security Administration shall conduct a review of a sample of determinations that individuals are entitled to disability insurance benefits by outlier administrative law judges and identify any determinations that are not supported by the evidence. [T]he term ‘‘outlier administrative law judge’’ means an administrative law judge ... who, in a given year ...issues more than 700 decisions; and ... determines that the applicant is entitled to disability insurance benefits in not less than 85 percent of cases.

Manger Square, Bethlehem

ALJ Lawsuit Over Alleged Quotas Not Going Well

     The Association of Administrative Law Judges, a labor union that represents Social Security's Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), brought suit in federal court over the agency's productivity guidelines. They had no success at the District Court level. Apparently, things didn't go any better at oral arguments before the Court of Appeals. The panel they drew included Judge Posner.

Merry Christmas