ODAR's New Policy Regarding ALJ's and How it Affects You

It has recently been brought to our office’s attention that as of December 19, 2011, the Office of Disability Adjudication & Review (ODAR) is no longer disclosing the name of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) when a disability hearing is scheduled. Instead, the identity of the ALJ will not be revealed until the actual hearing takes place. ODAR officials believe this will thwart any effort representatives may make to avoid particular ALJs. This can create a serious problem for representatives and claimants. Why? There are a few issues this new policy raises that concern us:

-          Because some ALJs require a specific presentation and possibly a brief provided by the representative prior to the hearing, the representative will not be able to properly prepare himself/herself ahead of time to make the best possible presentation to the ALJ.

-          If there is a specific issue that needs to be addressed by the ALJ prior to the hearing, the representative does not know who to contact to make sure the issue is brought to attention quickly and efficiently.

-          Code § 404.940 of Federal Regulations states that if an ALJ is “prejudiced or partial with respect to any party or has interest in the matter pending for decision,” we must contact ODAR as soon as possible to have another ALJ assigned. Under the new policy, the representative and his/her client will not be able to prepare a basis until walking into the hearing office.

-          Some ALJs like to take more time than others during a hearing. Knowing this information ahead of time helps representatives plan their schedules accordingly so they know how many hearings they can handle per day. Not knowing the ALJ’s usual timeframe could throw a wrench into the schedule of a representative, who may be representing multiple claimants in front of multiple ALJs on any given day.

Fortunately, for claimants and representatives everywhere, Paulette F. Balin & Associates, LLC will be joining the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives protest of this new policy to Glenn Sklar, the Deputy Commissioner of ODAR. Be sure to check out http://www.nosscr.org/within the next few weeks to view our letter to the Commissioner.

We are hopeful that our letter will be persuasive enough to overturn this unfair policy. As we always have and always will: “We do whatever it takes to win your case!”

- written by Anna Westfall and Attorney Andrew November