Memorandum of the Day

[jerseymom]

Hey Funkyman, I have never said anything negative about insiders versus outsiders. I just want the best, hardest working people to get hired and do the job! I have worked with many great ALJ 's who have been insiders. Have even lobbied for some. Wish you all the best in the next round.

[luckylady2]

Don't worry, jerseymom, he's not really responding to you, he's chumming for trolls. Funky- please don't feed the trolls.... I know the sound of crickets is much louder for all of us now that there's some folks getting good news, but try not to let it make you crazy!

[privateatty]

northerner and jersey mom, I'm afraid you have rather missed bartleby's and my points. The premise is the basis of CJ Bice's record of dispositions while a line Judge and/or a HOCALJ. I don't think anyone has directly questioned her competence or even said that she is doing a bad job (well, maybe we'll leave the PD out of it). While obviously bartleby knows and I don't (as well can be said about the above for it was his post that I was quoting), I don't see how a dismissal order equals a heard case. (If someone wants to point out what a knuckle-head I am with facts please be my guest).

Now I understand that you may well find posts like bartleby's and mine contrary to good morale and a propensity to see the glass half full. However, I have it on good authority that the Republic and SSA can well suffer the reasoned and hopefully respectful slings and arrows of debate and criticism. We all know that OPM can!

[funkyodar]

Thanks JM. I appreciate the well wishes and thanks for the great perspective you bring to the board.

And you guys are right...I'll let it go. Sorry. Besides, its too pretty a day to troll hunt. Gonna find some other entertainment. Afterall, its 5 o'clock somewhere.

[jerseymom]

PA, a dismissal equals a disposition, NOT a decision. The expectation is that ALJ 's issue 500 to 700 dispositions NOT decisions. The Chief's record as provided by Bart shows that she testified truthfully. Bart's analysis also failed to mention that during the time he referred to the Agency was utilized the Informal Remand initiative. Cases which met listings, etc, were paid prior to hearings. The Hearing Requests still had to be dismissed and all HOCALJ's had to sign them. Thus, the high number of dismissals Bart mentioned. Sometimes, not all the facts are provided by a few posters!
Btw, the shirt I'm wearing from Life is good says "Half Full"!!! Really.

[deltajudge]

8-)I rest my case, and bow out. I'll say this again, all of y'all are a lot smarter than those that are trying to manage you. Bart and I were only trying to enable you to see the trees instead of the forest. Best wishes and good luck.

[foursquare]

Let's go back a minute.  Deltajudge and Bart, consider this.  If Jerseymom is correct (that the Chief Judge counted informal remand dismissals as her dispositions), these should not have been counted as her dispositions, since HOCALJs were not permitted to include these dismissals in their dispositions (it would be unfair to the line judges);therefore, the 500 disposition goal would not have been met.  Perhaps, Jerseymom was speculating that this may have happened, which might explain the large number of dispositions.  She should clarify the statement or indicate the source for the statement.

[privateatty]

Apr 5, 2014 16:16:17 GMT -5 jerseymom said:

PA, a dismissal equals a disposition, NOT a decision. The expectation is that ALJ 's issue 500 to 700 dispositions NOT decisions. The Chief's record as provided by Bart shows that she testified truthfully. Bart's analysis also failed to mention that during the time he referred to the Agency was utilized the Informal Remand initiative. Cases which met listings, etc, were paid prior to hearings. The Hearing Requests still had to be dismissed and all HOCALJ's had to sign them. Thus, the high number of dismissals Bart mentioned. Sometimes, not all the facts are provided by a few posters!
Btw, the shirt I'm wearing from Life is good says "Half Full"!!! Really.

Thanks, jm. As I said I don't know what I'm talking about regarding ODAR, but I do like to follow up on legitimate debate. I appreciate the kind education--and the fact that you clarified the CJ's testimony. The issue of dispositions and how they factor into an ALJ's performance is not limited to ODAR and each agency is different. I suspect the subject is something more than occasional banter at the water cooler.

[deltajudge]

8-)foursquare, moopigstad and tigerlaw, Thanks.

[jerseymom]

Ok Foursquare, here's what I know-according to the published data, the Chief in FY 2010 had 662 dispositions, 387 were decisions. Some of the dismissals(which count as dispositions) may have come from the Informal Remand Initiative and some came from the Hearing Office as usual. Dismissals from the Informal Remand Initiative did not count towards the Hearing Office goal. However, it is EXTREMELY possible that at least 113 of these dismissals came through the Chief's docket in the usual way. Thus, she made her expectation of 500 DISPOSITIONS.
So can we stop the Ivory Tower talk that states our leaders have not met the expectations they are asking us to meet.
For those hoping to get this job, dismissals count towards the 500 to 700 disposition expectation. Do not confuse decisions with dispositions. Hope this helps.
PS I know about the Informal Remand Initiative because as a HOCALJ I had to sign about 125 a year.

[prescient]

Apr 5, 2014 9:53:11 GMT -5 jerseymom said:

Really Bart? You've been an ALJ for 2 or 3 years and you know better than the majority of judges who are meeting expectations, issuing legally sufficient decisions. These judges are NOT paying down the backlog-the pay rate has declined steadily while the agree rates from the AC and District Courts have steadily increased. If you can't issue 500 dispositions a year, talk to your HOCALJ, but don't insult the majority of ALJ's who do.
.

I think there is a clear disconnect between some of your points. Just because the AC/ District Court agreement rate has improved, does not mean that the ALJ who has issued the decision is doing their job. IMO the increased hiring of more qualified attorney writers, who have been asked to carry the weight of crafting the legally sufficient decisions, has much more to do with the better outcomes. Having written for dozens of ALJs in several hearing offices, I can honestly say there are less than a handful that legitimately look at every piece of evidence in the file, do a thorough case review, including development, and ask pointed direct questions during the hearing, that cite to specific areas of the medical records and flesh out inconsistencies. The vast majority do what can best be described as a cursory skimming of the evidence, and then have hearings which really add little of significance to the record. Are you subpoenaing the claimant's former employer to provide proof that SGA after onset actually was unpaid vacation, or are you just going to rely on the claimant's testimony? How hard are you trying to fill in the gaps of medical records that clearly exist but weren't submitted to the record?

If you work in a hearing office where the average case file is very large, getting to 500 dispositions will be very, very difficult without taking shortcuts that fall below the standard of what you're getting paid to do.

[valkyrie]

I'm going to jump in here in defense of SOME of the HOCALJs racking up on the dismissals. A lot depends upon how active the HOCALJ is as a manager in the particular hearing office. Some of the HOCALJs do the bare minimum required for the job, as in not much different from the line ALJs, other than signing leave slips after the timekeeper begs. Other HOCALJs actively MANAGE their offices, making sure that the ALJS and HOD do their jobs, making sure that the ALJs and HOD can do their jobs, and overall making sure that the claimants are served. I have absolutely no problem with the latter kind of HOCALJ padding their numbers with dismissals. Most likely they are spending at least 30% of their time doing managerial work and deserve the break.

[valkyrie]

Apr 5, 2014 21:20:03 GMT -5 prescient said:

Apr 5, 2014 9:53:11 GMT -5 jerseymom said:

Really Bart? You've been an ALJ for 2 or 3 years and you know better than the majority of judges who are meeting expectations, issuing legally sufficient decisions. These judges are NOT paying down the backlog-the pay rate has declined steadily while the agree rates from the AC and District Courts have steadily increased. If you can't issue 500 dispositions a year, talk to your HOCALJ, but don't insult the majority of ALJ's who do.
.

I think there is a clear disconnect between some of your points. Just because the AC/ District Court agreement rate has improved, does not mean that the ALJ who has issued the decision is doing their job. IMO the increased hiring of more qualified attorney writers, who have been asked to carry the weight of crafting the legally sufficient decisions, has much more to do with the better outcomes. Having written for dozens of ALJs in several hearing offices, I can honestly say there are less than a handful that legitimately look at every piece of evidence in the file, do a thorough case review, including development, and ask pointed direct questions during the hearing, that cite to specific areas of the medical records and flesh out inconsistencies. The vast majority do what can best be described as a cursory skimming of the evidence, and then have hearings which really add little of significance to the record. Are you subpoenaing the claimant's former employer to provide proof that SGA after onset actually was unpaid vacation, or are you just going to rely on the claimant's testimony? How hard are you trying to fill in the gaps of medical records that clearly exist but weren't submitted to the record?

If you work in a hearing office where the average case file is very large, getting to 500 dispositions will be very, very difficult without taking shortcuts that fall below the standard of what you're getting paid to do.

Thud!

Oops! Another claimant just died before his hearing...

[bartleby]

Actually dismissals are supposed to be divided evenly among the office ALJ's. Therefore, a HOCALJ should not have more than the line Judges. Further, part of the contention was whether the CALJ had ever done 500-700 cases a year as a line ALJ and the answer is no, she did not. Vaal, it's not our job to give them the quickest hearing we can, we are to give them a fair and full due process hearing. Without the record developed as required, how many claimants are improperly denied and then die anyhow? Or is your only concern the numbers? It's the old quality versus quantity thing. If some are happy doing 50 a month that are not done to my standards that is fine, but why should I be asked to lower my standards? I was hired with the idea that I would do my job properly. If you can do 50 a month consistently and properly than good for you. Most of the Judges doing those numbers are getting sloppier and sloppier. Having been a writer, my friends are bringing me instructions and mistakes in evidence and hearings that some Judges are doing that are not within our guidelines or Regulations. When discussing developing cases with another judge, he laughed and said, "You fell for that patriarchal crap?" Further, to comply with the CALJ directive regarding drafting instructions fully would take longer than writing the decision. I know a lot of ALJ's and very few are doing 50 a month. Even fewer if any are doing them in accordance with our Regulations, Directives, Hallex, etc. 2 1/2 to 3 hours a case is just not enough time to do all that is required. I am aware of some short cuts being utilized and I can't do them in good consciousness. I have been told to spend only 10-15 minutes reviewing the record before the hearing and that I will then know what is important to review after the hearing. I have been told not to order CE's a they are useless. I have been advised that ordering ME's is a waste of time. I have been told that if a claimant is represented that it is the representatives responsibility to make sure the record is developed and complete. That is not what the Req's say.

[moopigsdad]

Wow, it's amazing how when there is little else to discuss we have the same arguments repeatedly on the Board. It's either insider versus outsider or quality (less than 500 decisions) versus quantity (more than 500 decisions). We really need a new topic to beat to death.

[71stretch]

Apr 6, 2014 6:53:09 GMT -5 moopigsdad said:

Wow, it's amazing how when there is little else to discuss we have the same arguments repeatedly on the Board. It's either insider versus outsider or quality (less than 500 decisions) versus quantity (more than 500 decisions). We really need a new topic to beat to death.

Over or under, salted or unsalted, or a thousand other more complicated scenarios... you can be sure this bunch will find something to debate, or, perhaps, everyone should just get some fresh air and sunshine.

[JudgeRatty]

Apr 5, 2014 21:20:03 GMT -5 prescient said:

Apr 5, 2014 9:53:11 GMT -5 jerseymom said:

Really Bart? You've been an ALJ for 2 or 3 years and you know better than the majority of judges who are meeting expectations, issuing legally sufficient decisions. These judges are NOT paying down the backlog-the pay rate has declined steadily while the agree rates from the AC and District Courts have steadily increased. If you can't issue 500 dispositions a year, talk to your HOCALJ, but don't insult the majority of ALJ's who do.
.

I think there is a clear disconnect between some of your points. Just because the AC/ District Court agreement rate has improved, does not mean that the ALJ who has issued the decision is doing their job. IMO the increased hiring of more qualified attorney writers, who have been asked to carry the weight of crafting the legally sufficient decisions, has much more to do with the better outcomes. Having written for dozens of ALJs in several hearing offices, I can honestly say there are less than a handful that legitimately look at every piece of evidence in the file, do a thorough case review, including development, and ask pointed direct questions during the hearing, that cite to specific areas of the medical records and flesh out inconsistencies. The vast majority do what can best be described as a cursory skimming of the evidence, and then have hearings which really add little of significance to the record. Are you subpoenaing the claimant's former employer to provide proof that SGA after onset actually was unpaid vacation, or are you just going to rely on the claimant's testimony? How hard are you trying to fill in the gaps of medical records that clearly exist but weren't submitted to the record?

If you work in a hearing office where the average case file is very large, getting to 500 dispositions will be very, very difficult without taking shortcuts that fall below the standard of what you're getting paid to do.

Certainly is a TEAM effort to get it done right! If the ALJs have a great writing team, all the more likely quality will be good and the AC agreement rate will improve. A bunch of good writers will also relieve some of the burden of the time crunch since they can fill in the gaps. On the other hand, if the writing is deficient .... ugh. That would be the pits.

[maquereau]

SA, I did the writing job for awhile. What percentage of writers in SSA know how to write a PERSUASIVE draft? How many of them just regurgitate material from the file and then magically conclude that, therefore, claimant can lift, carry, walk whatever (whatever the RFC says)? How many of them understand that they are supposed to be adding structure and analysis rather than mere regurgitation?

[JudgeRatty]

Apr 6, 2014 14:08:31 GMT -5 maquereau said:

SA, I did the writing job for awhile. What percentage of writers in SSA know how to write a PERSUASIVE draft? How many of them just regurgitate material from the file and then magically conclude that, therefore, claimant can lift, carry, walk whatever (whatever the RFC says)? How many of them understand that they are supposed to be adding structure and analysis rather than mere regurgitation?

Amen! This is certainly key. Having writers who do exactly what you describe is paramount. Anything less and it makes more work for the ALJs.

[hopefalj]

Apr 6, 2014 14:08:31 GMT -5 maquereau said:

SA, I did the writing job for awhile. What percentage of writers in SSA know how to write a PERSUASIVE draft? How many of them just regurgitate material from the file and then magically conclude that, therefore, claimant can lift, carry, walk whatever (whatever the RFC says)? How many of them understand that they are supposed to be adding structure and analysis rather than mere regurgitation?

That's a fair point. My guess is that one of the insiders' largest concerns is with writing quality should we be fortunate enough to join the ranks. I've written enough remands to know that it's hit or miss. Heck, some of the decisions I wrote my first year or two made me cringe when they've come back. I review every one of my remanded decisions, and there are occasions where I'll still make a mistake that causes a remand.

Then again, sometimes all I have to work with is magic. Like when I get instructions that there are no severe physical impairments and the RFC/VE hypothetical is for light work. When a claimant has a later onset date that doesn't correspond to any significant changes to their conditions or to any changes in age. Or maybe when I get a fully favorable set of instructions and the only "impairment" in the record is chest pain on a single occasion in a 25-page record. Writers are not the only magicians on the payroll.