Case Law

[jagghagg]

If anyone is interested in reading some recent judicial treatment of SSA ALJ decisions:

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
December 10, 2007
Blakeman v. Astrue, No. 06-3577>

In a Social Security disability benefits case brought by an individual suffering from a genetic heart condition that allegedly causes disabling fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, and arrhythmia, denial of disability benefits is affirmed where substantial evidence supported an ALJ's finding that claimant's subjective complaints of disabling fatigue due to his heart condition were not entirely credible.
Read more... <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/063577p.pdf>


U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals

December 12, 2007
Frantz v. Astrue, No. 07-1057 >

Denial of a claim for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act is reversed where: 1) the ALJ erred in improperly analyzing the medical opinions in her record and completely ignoring the opinion of one of her medical providers; and 2) the ALJ failed to engage in the proper legal analysis when he found her capable of performing her past relevant work.
Read more... <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/10th/071057p.pdf>


January 04, 2008
Bowman v. Astrue, No. 06-6380 >

Denial of an application for supplemental security income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act is reversed and remanded where: 1) an ALJ erred, as a matter of law, in failing to perform a proper analysis at step four of the five-step sequential evaluation process for determining whether a social security claimant is disabled; and 2) the opinion of claimant's primary medical provider, a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner, should be reconsidered in light of SSR 06-03p.
Read more... <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/10th/066380p.pdf>

[Pixie]

Todos los puntos Buenos, Wilddog.

[baseball14]

I find the Appeals Council's "remands" leave something to be desired. Quite frankly, the faster they eliminate it, the better. If every single disability or SSI case were treated like a 'federal case," the backlog would be double and it would take more years to get to a hearing. Get this test, call that med expert, re-examine here...do this...do that....The AC needs to remember they are not a Circuit Court of Appeals !!!

[counselor95]

A word about earnings for Title II cases -- the rules are complex, but it is absolutely necessary to learn them to avoid problems in writing and to avoid cases coming back years later. We don't serve the public well if fail to pay correctly the first time because of earnings-related issues or if we spend lots of time re-doing a case.

I second WD's advice about knowing the DLI and to get the latest earnings queries before the hearing -- but also know the definitions and application of substantial gainful activity (SGA) and trial work periods (TWP) and past relevant work (PRW) -- many times, a question or two at the hearing could avoid an hour or two (or more) of work on the part of the staff later, to try to ascertain whether or not a claimant can even qualify for T II benefits. This is true because, even before the ALJ gets to the decision as to whether the claimant is disabled, two work-related issues must be dealt with: insured status and whether the claimant is doing SGA. And, in the 4th step of the sequential evaluation, the issue of whether the claimant can do PRW must be decided -- and "past work" does not necessarily equal "past relevant work".