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Post by foursquare on Mar 6, 2014 20:44:19 GMT -5
Judge Cristaudo also said we should enjoy our lives and our families. At one time, I too was able to do 500 plus cases a year when OTRs were possible, files were thinner and without all of the duplicates and medical source statements from multiple providers saying that the claimant can do nothing. You have to invest a certain amount of time in these cases to make sure you are prepared to determine what weight you should give these opinions or whether the claimant needs to be sent for a CE, or you should send ME Interrogatories or have an ME at the hearing. You have to read the file completely to make these determinations and fashion the appopriate RFC. Some offices may provide help with abstracting evidence in these 1000 plus page files, but I have never been in one of them. This is not an assembly line. We are professionals and are charged with the dual duty of completing the record and protecting the trust fund. Let us not get lost in the numbers.
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Post by notyet on Mar 6, 2014 21:02:15 GMT -5
Not yet-NOT TRUE! Many of the ALJ's closing 500 or more cases a year come from large file offices. Also, some large files are large because the files contain duplicate exhibits. The page count suggests a large file but upon review it isn't. Don't assume that judges who do their jobs are cutting corners.. What I said is not an assumption. What I said is borne out in agency remand records. That is lets take a look at the remand rate on decisions issued by the top dogs in large file offices and compare them against the remand rate on decisions by the judges that do more than just hold hearings and give instructions that let others struggle to comport the evidence to said instructions. That all being said, there are some high-producing decision-makers that have impressed me over my career. I agree with your comment that not everyone can be a Michael Jordan in this arena but that everyone needs to know how to play in the NBA if they want to play basketball professionally. I also agree with MCB's observation from earlier today that "ALJs, in general, are honorable and do their best." Moreover, I am much impressed with top dogs who do quality work. I agree even more with foursquare's remembrance of what he said he had heard Judge Cristaudo say. That is, according to foursquare, "Judge Cristaudo also said we should enjoy our lives and our families."
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Post by notyet on Mar 6, 2014 21:36:53 GMT -5
Judge Cristaudo also said we should enjoy our lives and our families. At one time, I too was able to do 500 plus cases a year when OTRs were possible, files were thinner and without all of the duplicates and medical source statements from multiple providers saying that the claimant can do nothing. You have to invest a certain amount of time in these cases to make sure you are prepared to determine what weight you should give these opinions or whether the claimant needs to be sent for a CE, or you should send ME Interrogatories or have an ME at the hearing. You have to read the file completely to make these determinations and fashion the appopriate RFC. Some offices may provide help with abstracting evidence in these 1000 plus page files, but I have never been in one of them.. Some smart practitioners like Tom have this help, which I unfortunately did not when I was in private practice, but I have never seen such help during my tenure with ODAR. More specifically, Tom had said back on February 23, 2014 in the "ALJ Reality/Quotas, etc." thread, "And I doubt very many attorneys spend 8-10 hours just reading medical records (even 1000 pages) before the hearing. I have a legal assistant who weeds out the garbage and the duplicates and at least tell me what each report is (MRI, office visit, etc). I can reduce my time significantly that way." See aljdiscussion.proboards.com/search/results?who_at_least_one=2699&display_as=0.
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Post by onepingonly on Mar 7, 2014 9:43:55 GMT -5
File size disparity is real, in my experience. My office seems to average around 500 pages of medical per file. When handling hearings for other offices, I've seen averages around 1,500 pages. I've also noticed a trend where case files are getting bigger and sloppier as the percentage of repped cases increases, because reps often obtain and dump hundreds of pages without regard to duplication or relevance. Things have changed somewhat since the days of Judge Cristaudo. There also used to be more judges who were making large numbers by working through lunch, working extra free hours each day, working at home on weekends. During the shutdown, management stressed the Antideficiency Act: volunteerism was verboten. And after Huntington, the agency has adjusted downward its estimate of the max numbers a judge should do. Judges have more data entry duties than in the past. Gone is the stovepipe team. There are new contract provisions. Etc.
None of this is to suggest that an ALJ cannot close 500 a year. But there are still only so many hours in a day. That hasn't changed.
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Post by hopefalj on Mar 7, 2014 10:24:24 GMT -5
File size disparity is real, in my experience. My office seems to average around 500 pages of medical per file. When handling hearings for other offices, I've seen averages around 1,500 pages. Shrewd offices don't send their smaller or easier cases out the door. They keep those in house and send out the 1800-page DAA cases to lucky recipients elsewhere. Also, not all yellow-page-sized files are the same. I'd rather see a file with 1000+ pages of county hospital records than 300 pages of VA records.
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Post by onepingonly on Mar 7, 2014 10:51:13 GMT -5
Shrewd offices don't send their smaller or easier cases out the door. They keep those in house and send out the 1800-page DAA cases to lucky recipients elsewhere. GOOD POINT. Also, not all yellow-page-sized files are the same. I'd rather see a file with 1000+ pages of county hospital records than 300 pages of VA records. I'd generally prefer to see VA records, which are typed and organized, than handscrawled notes, though. You're right that size is not the only factor.
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Post by notyet on Mar 7, 2014 10:55:41 GMT -5
File size disparity is real, in my experience. My office seems to average around 500 pages of medical per file. When handling hearings for other offices, I've seen averages around 1,500 pages. I've also noticed a trend where case files are getting bigger and sloppier as the percentage of repped cases increases, because reps often obtain and dump hundreds of pages without regard to duplication or relevance. As shared on February 27, 2014 by atlasta in the "ALJ Reality/Quotas, etc." thread: "If you do the job correctly it is time consuming. I have worked in large file jurisdictions and small file jurisdictions. Small is a lot better. Currently I am in a small file jurisdiction where the attorneys rarely request additional time to keep the record open. I am taking more leave than ever."
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Post by bowser on Mar 9, 2014 17:54:10 GMT -5
While I agree that ALJs can close 500 cases a year, it is not at a 40 hour work week - during the short time that I've been an ALJ, the more senior and experienced judges routinely work credit hours during the work week and on weekends. Some work past the allowed credit hour time and donate their time to the Agency to meet goal. Always slays me when (not directed at the quoted poster) a federal judge with a lifetime appointment, making upwards of $160k, has the mentality of an hourly wage slave - whining about "donating their time" if they don't get credit hours for every quarter hour they put in after an 8.5 hr day. But I guess that's just me.
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Post by bartleby on Mar 9, 2014 23:49:41 GMT -5
I am surprised that you are unimpressed with people that actually have family lives and expect to get compensated for work.. Strange. It only seems fair. According to Federal Law, the Government is not supposed to request or even allow employees to work without being compensated. Do you feel over-compensated for your work? I am sure the Government would accept a refund from you if you feel you are paid too much.
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Post by whyohwhy on Apr 7, 2014 15:44:20 GMT -5
And in other union news, the Dept of Labor has filed a complaint to void the union's last election for President so the hits keep on coming. The complaint doesn't appear to have been uploaded yet but the case is captioned Fox vs. AALJ and should be posted in the next few days to the Dept of Labor/Office of ALJ's website here- www.oalj.dol.gov
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Post by robespierre on Apr 7, 2014 17:25:00 GMT -5
It always slays me when federal employees who are hired on the understanding that they will work a fixed number of hours are criticized for not donating additional hours. Especially when the rationale for the criticism is that they earn $160K, which in my city (a) is not what most ALJs earn, and (b) only gets you a modest lifestyle.
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Post by minny on Apr 7, 2014 20:34:55 GMT -5
According to Federal Law, the Government is not supposed to request or even allow employees to work without being compensated. Not taking sides in this argument but this portion of your quote is technically not accurate since the "suffer or permit" doctrine under the Fair Labor Standards Act is applicable to some, but not nearly all, non-exempt employees. ALJ's and other professionals are exempt under the FLSA, but even if they were non-exempt, employees on flexible schedules (including those who can earn credit hours) cannot claim "suffered or permitted" overtime.
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Post by luckylady2 on Apr 7, 2014 22:51:57 GMT -5
Yeah, DOJ attorneys tried suing under the FSLA for compensation for overtime in the late 90's, won in district court and lost in the Fed Circuit Doe v. United States, 372 F. 3d 1347 (Fed Cir 2004)
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Post by luckylady2 on Apr 7, 2014 22:55:42 GMT -5
Ooops - FLSA
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Post by privateatty on Apr 8, 2014 16:00:23 GMT -5
While I agree that ALJs can close 500 cases a year, it is not at a 40 hour work week - during the short time that I've been an ALJ, the more senior and experienced judges routinely work credit hours during the work week and on weekends. Some work past the allowed credit hour time and donate their time to the Agency to meet goal. Always slays me when (not directed at the quoted poster) a federal judge with a lifetime appointment, making upwards of $160k, has the mentality of an hourly wage slave - whining about "donating their time" if they don't get credit hours for every quarter hour they put in after an 8.5 hr day. But I guess that's just me. I guess its just me that I believe in contracts. My contract was that I would get hired as a federal ALJ and get paid less than half of what I was making, travel to another city, bear the costs of same and work a 40 hour week when for 25+ years I had been working 60 and 70 hr ones and checking email with OCD intensity. Of course I was estatic to take the job and have been blessed that I can do the job in 40 hrs, week in and week out. When I can't I'll retire and make way for bowser jr.
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Post by x on Apr 8, 2014 19:40:57 GMT -5
File size disparity is real, in my experience. My office seems to average around 500 pages of medical per file. When handling hearings for other offices, I've seen averages around 1,500 pages. Shrewd offices don't send their smaller or easier cases out the door. They keep those in house and send out the 1800-page DAA cases to lucky recipients elsewhere. Also, not all yellow-page-sized files are the same. I'd rather see a file with 1000+ pages of county hospital records than 300 pages of VA records. Offices/managers who dump difficult cases on other offices are not shrewd. They are short-sighted in not recognizing that they are part of a large organization. They are usually karma-policed without much effort by more-truly savvy players -- whether they ever know it or not.
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