ALJ travel & schedule

[counsel]

This was touched on in another thread and I would like to hear more. Apparently, in some offices ALJs are required to travel to remote sites. Do they have any say in their schedule? In other words, would an ALJ be able to schedule which weeks to travel? Or express a preference for which remote sites to visit? For that matter, do ALJs decide how many hearings to have each day and when to schedule them or is that decided by someone else? As a non-SSA attorney I appreciate any information that helps me understand the process.

[odarite]

There are customs and practices in various offices, but generally, if you are hired into a traveling office, you will begin travelling pretty soon after arrival and will go to all of the remote sites that office serves on the same basis the other ALJs go there. Generally, you are asked to give your preferences for hearing trips and local hearings in terms of dates, spacing of hearings, how many per day and the like. Your mileage may vary.

[deadwood]

Remote hearings sites do vary greatly from office to office. I'm aware of one office that only holds remote site hearings every three or four months while another office has three or four remote site dockets per month.

Eventually, the funding should come where VTCs can be placed in all (permanent) remote sites which, in turn, would lessen the amount of travel required.

[odarite]

Now that is something I really don't know the answer to. But I can tell you that as a general matter offices in large cities in major metropolitan areas (think NYC) are less likely to travel than cities that are in much more dispersed locations (think Minneapolis). Also, I remember hearing an Iowa judge talk about doing 2 or more weeks per month of travel, and then they hooked into the Iowa VTC network and travel dropped to almost nothing. So even if you are offered an office that travels a lot at the moment, that may not last long with the increase in VTC (video teleconferencing).

[amporci]

Just to clarify - not all of the "areas served" actually have a remote hearing site - some HOs list quite a few offices served but might have only one or two remote sites to which judges actually travel.

[southerner]

The information is not entirely accurate. In Region VI, Metairie no longer has Houma as it was moved to New Orleans some time ago. Houma is only remote site for New Orleans or Metairie.

[nothingventured]

I would like to know more about hearings at remote sites. When ALJs travel to conduct hearings do they bring support staff with them? Is the recording equipment at the remote site or does the ALJ bring it? Who operates the recording equipment?

[chris]

Some of the distances in the west can be significant. San Francisco covers Eureka, more than 250 miles to the north. Sacramento covers Redding, more than 150 miles to the north, as well as Susanville, more than 200 miles, and Elko, Nevada, more than 400 miles.

[counsel]

I thought I heard about an ALJ who lived closer to the remote sites and held all those hearings. He rarely heard cases in the main office. Does this sound possible?

[odarite]

Depending on the volume at the remote site , it is possible. However, it is not likely, for a number of reasons, so would be rare.

[learnedhand]

I am aware of one judge who did this, but he has retired and that is no longer being done. I am aware of another office where this is being done informally, but the judge is also typically in the office during days he does not have hearings.

[aljsouth]

counsel said:

I thought I heard about an ALJ who lived closer to the remote sites and held all those hearings. He rarely heard cases in the main office. Does this sound possible?

It is a violation of rotation of cases which IG recently binged Ft. Lauderdale over. HOCALJ fired.

I am in a travelling site. We travel twice a month usually. We select the dates and times of our dockets. This is in the regulations. We do this through the group supervisors and a set of calendars for each site. VTC sounds like a savior for those not wanting to travel. It does have practical problems. For instance two VTC rooms in home site that are already heavily used for home site cases. Very hard to schedule VTC for multiple remotes sites and if you do this greatly in advance it cuts down on the number of hearings in the home site. Contrary to the doctrine of faith in VTC adopted by ODAR, we can schedule at remote sites and get there just as fast as VTC. VTC is useful when you have only a few cases at a remote site not justifying overnight stay.

No staff travels with the judge. Hearing reporters, who are "independent" contractors, LOL, go to the remote sites. VE's go to the more available site of the two. Those of us in the fifth circuit basically have to have VE's in every adult disability case.

VTC has a role to be played. I do use it. As usual ODAR takes an extreme position that if we are forced to follow will actually slow down adjudication of cases.

[amporci]

If anyone is still interested in this topic, you can go to this website:

www.ssa.gov/appeals/video_hearing/vh_locator.html#state_view

Click on the state, and you will see under each HO the remote sites which have video equipment installed - from what I can tell, these are also the sites to which the judges might travel.

[aljsouth]

amporci said:

If anyone is still interested in this topic, you can go to this website:

www.ssa.gov/appeals/video_hearing/vh_locator.html#state_view

Click on the state, and you will see under each HO the remote sites which have video equipment installed - from what I can tell, these are also the sites to which the judges might travel.

I am fortunate in having permanent remote sites. The list you mentioned will not list temporary sites. A lot of offices have several temporary sites -- hotel rooms, offices rented by the day from cities, you get the idea. These are the worst places to hold hearings and don't have VTC.

[judicature]

In a location where remote sites are numerous - is it pretty much personal vehicles with payment of mileage reimbursement per IRS or government vehicles provided by SSA?

[aaa]

In our office, we don't have access to government vehicles; however, at their request ALJs have been allowed to rent cars and they were paid for. We often request a bigger vehicle for them because of the need to transport files, etc. or the need for a 4-wheel drive. Or they can drive their own car and request mileage reimbursement.

[aljsouth]

judicature said:

In a location where remote sites are numerous - is it pretty much personal vehicles with payment of mileage reimbursement per IRS or government vehicles provided by SSA?

Yes.

Although you can rent a car. It is a royal pain from all accounts.

There may be some places with public transportation, but they are unlikely to be remote sites for ODAR.

[odarite]

Choices are essentially 2: in places where a pool exists, I understand they want/require your use. (I have no personal experience of that) or personal car at mileage. For the rest of the world, if you cannot or do not want to use your personal vehicle, a rental car is the answer, but must be approved in advance. In addition, in parts of the country where remote sites are truly far apart, airplane travel and rental cars are the only option.

[morgullord]

Atlanta North judges travel a great deal. FYI the judge goes alone. A hearing monitor local to the remote site runs the recorder at the remote site; VEs and MEs frequently appear via satellite.