Be Careful What You Wish For

[goodoleboy]

Your wish just might come true. I can see that everyone is excited about their interviews and now selections are just over the hill. Take a minute or whatever time it takes to be sure that you really want to be an SSA ALJ. I have posted about this before but I thought it important enough to have its own string. SSA treats its judges unlike judges are treated anywhere else in the world except maybe Pakistan. Do not even think that you will be treated like "federal" judges. If you really want to be called "judge" and be treated with the respect due you, I suggest the easiest way is to become a city traffic court judge with staff, a courtroom, a bailiff, respect, professionalism from upper level administrators, easily understood law, no lying doctors, and appellate level courts that actually read your decisions. You will have none of the above at SSA. Seriously, think it over.

[workdrone]

goodoleboy said:

Seriously, think it over.

I think in life, the glass is always half full or half empty, depending on how you look at it. Being an SSA ALJ is definitely nothing like being an Article III federal judge or even a state court appellate judge. However, it is a decent, and sometimes even professionally rewarding job. It just requires you to go into it with open eyes and don't expect more than the job is able to offer.

For people who wants to follow the law, give the claimants the due process they deserve and process the cases in a professional and efficient manner, it's a good job with good quality of life and decent job security. However, if you're in it thinking about how many gold stripes you can put on the robe and having people call you "your honor" all the time, then you're likely to be sorely disappointed.

The happiest and the best ALJs I know are folks who are down to earth who works with an eye to the bottom line (i.e. timely and professional adjudication). The most unhappy ones are the ones who seem to think they should be treated like Circuit Court Judges.

I think most of the folks on this board probably have a good idea what the SSA ALJ job is like already, but it never hurts to check your internal compass again to make sure you're doing it for the right reason.

[jagghagg]

I think that knowing why you want this job is good advice. Part of answering that question includes where you are coming from and where you are headed; what you want; why you want that; what you need in life and what will fulfill those expectations. While I have been flamed for suggesting an examination of potential rote work (see "Boredom" thread) should be undertaken (see also "A Week in the Life of..."), I think an "eyes open" approach benefits everyone: you, the SSA, the claimants, etc.

[lee]

I think that the suggestion that each applicant check hi/her internal compass is good advice. As an alj at a state agency for more than 10 years, let me also suggest that each applicant think long and hard about his/her ability and willingness to make the hard decisions. Depending on the agency that hires you, can you dismiss an otherwise meritorious claim based on limitations? Can you face an attorney or litigant that you find very pleasant and tell him/her that his case will be dismissed? Do you aspire to this position because it really is your calling, or do you long to correct wrongs done you in the past, or agency policies with which you disagree. Finally, can you make a timely decision and then move on to the next case without second guessing yourself?
I don't offer these comments facetiously. After watching some of my colleagues over the past decade who have failed in this job, I believe that these are valid questions. Truly, if you have trouble making up your mind about what to order for lunch, or are still second guessing yourself about the last car you purchased, this might not be the correct career track.
On the other hand, if your motto is "I am often wrong, but never uncertain", I believe that you (and I) are on the right course. Good luck to all of us.

[jagghagg]

"IF"

Rudyard Kipling

[privateatty]

"An unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates

"Don't go mistakin' paradise for that home across the road." Dylan

No need to do any 'splainin' jagghagg, this is a free-fire zone, within our rules, of course.

goodoleboy and workdrone both make excellent points, although I prefer a dollop of optimism!

Given the backlog, our esteemed bench's various descriptions of life as an ALJ and hopefully some wear on our respective tires, I don't think any but the most naive of us will be totally surprised by the "real life" should we be so lucky to be chosen. That having been said, there will be "gut checks", of this I have no doubt. Those at ODAR (and a few others) know of which I speak. They see, feel, touch and hear alot of human misery. Seems to me like you have to respect your fellow man (woman), the law and the system. If the latter is not working too well, then you just do your best. What else can you do?

Thanks for the thread, goodoleboy.

[workdrone]

lee said:

On the other hand, if your motto is "I am often wrong, but never uncertain"

Lee,

Love your motto. I'm going to have to rememeber that one. SSA, more than any other federal agency, deal with appellants in dire circumstances. As a SSA ALJ, you have to deal with much human suffering and misery, where your decision may well be the difference between whether a family barely gets by with assistance or whether they are left out in the cold.

It is a heavy burden to decide what is the "right" thing to do in every case. As Lee already addressed many of the tough issues, I just want to stress the importance of making your best decision and move on.

No one is perfect and reasonable minds might differ on the interpretation of laws and regulations. However, the immutable fact is that there are endless number of appellants waiting out there for their day before an ALJ, and the best an ALJ can do is to do as many cases as you can under the circumstances and give them a fair hearing as soon as possible.

Finally, do the best you can and don't second guess your decisions. If you agonize over each one of them and endlessly second guess yourself, you're going to be pretty unhappy and miserable.

jagghagg said:

"IF"

Rudyard Kipling

Jagghagg,

You have the heart of a poetess. ;D "IF" is a great poem and very fitting for this thread. For folks who haven't had a chance to read it, here's a link:

www.swarthmore.edu/~apreset1/docs/if.html

[arlene25]

"Finally, do the best you can and don't second guess your decisions. If you agonize over each one of them and endlessly second guess yourself, you're going to be pretty unhappy and miserable."


Not to mention making the support staff, managers, group supervisors and staff attorneys miserable going through all the supplemental hearing notes and post hearing CEs A25

[gromit]

Alright!!!! Quote-o-rama.


From Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych

"Then what do you want now? To live? Live how? Live as you lived in the law courts when the usher proclaimed 'The judge is coming!' The judge is coming, the judge!" he repeated to himself. "Here he is, the judge. But I am not guilty!" he exclaimed angrily. "What is it for?" And he ceased crying, but turning his face to the wall continued to ponder on the same question: Why, and for what purpose, is there all this horror? But however much he pondered he found no answer. And whenever the thought occurred to him, as it often did, that it all resulted from his not having lived as he ought to have done, he at once recalled the correctness of his whole life and dismissed so strange an idea."

. . .

It occurred to him that what had appeared perfectly impossible before, namely that he had not spent his life as he should have done, might after all be true. It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false. And his professional duties and the whole arrangement of his life and of his family, and all his social and official interests, might all have been false. He tried to defend all those things to himself and suddenly felt the weakness of what he was defending. There was nothing to defend.




And, as a very minor point, the failure of appellate courts to actually read the trial court's decision is hardly limited to social security.

[jagghagg]

gromit said:

Alright!!!! Quote-o-rama.

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

—T.H. White, The Once and Future King

[testtaker]

This is a great thread. I have in fact been thinking about this, since someone I know is a former SSA ALJ and he hated it. I am convinced that he had a poor attitude. He and I are quite different and have different takes on the job. But I listened to what he had to say and I thought about it very seriously. I also thought about what everyone has been saying on these various threads. My outcome is that I feel that this is indeed my calling. Whether I get it or not is an entirely different matter. I want to be able to serve claimants by making an expeditious and fair adjudication of their claims. I think I can do so even when the Claimant seems worthy but his/her case does not show a "disability" or is technically deficient. I learned quickly in private practice that I can't take on all the woes of others (I save that for my private life and my friends! No, just kidding). The first lessons I had in that was one case of a quadriplegic and another case with a paraplegic. Both incurred their injuries after their DLIs and they had too much income & resources for SSI. It was rough explaining to them that they didn't qualify (one cried - one yelled), but at least I was able to explain it clearly to them that their insurance was expired.

I've also thought long and hard about the lack of staff to support the judges at ODAR. I look back on my career and laugh at the lack of staff I had in private practice. In the beginning, I did everything myself. Even for many of the times when I had staff, the employee was often an idiot. There was a time when I went through a number of ineffective secretaries. My friends started calling me Murphy Brown. It took me 6 years to finally get a staff together that is an excellent team. My best employee moved about 4 months ago and I'm missing her terribly - - what an ace worker she was! Again, thanks for the thread and the opportunity to vent.

Addendum - - Workdrone, that poem really saved the day!

[tootsie]

Just testing- I got a message that I was not allowed to post! Whaa?

[tootsie]

OK- now that that's straightened out-

Is this really "quote-a-thon"

Can we do song lyrics?

How about:

"Well, I was born to have adventure
So I just followed up the steps - "

JOA on Connect would know this one
The lyricist's name rhymes with APA (sort of)

[gromit]

tootsie said:

"Well, I was born to have adventure
So I just followed up the steps - "

Right past her fuming incense stencher
To where she hung her castanets


Frank Zappa - Camarillo Brillo

Other than having a few albums, I have an very minor Zappa connection since a former colleague's daughter (Selma Blair) was married to Ahmet Zappa.

[tootsie]

OOH! Birthday Boy! Congrats! Right on!

I really didn't think anyone on this board would get that -
Family ties or not, It's good thing!

"She said she was
A magic mama
And she could throw a mean tarot
And carried on without a comma
That she was someone I should know"

Maybe we'll meet at training. I'll be wearing a Sear's poncho over my red spangled dress.

[lee]

One final suggestion, based on long experience. After all of us are (hopefully) appointed to the positions we so clearly deserve, don't be too downcast about the occasional reversal. The arguments and the evidence upon which they are based are always much clearer at the second or third level of appeal than they are at the alj level, when someone has just thrown disorganized masses of paper at you. On the other hand, if you are being repeatedly reversed based on a lack of understanding of the statute, regs, and case law, you may be on the wrong career track again.
By the way, if anyone is looking for distractions while we wait to see what happens after the interviews, I am reading a great book called The Teahouse Fire. I highly recommend it. It reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha.

[morgullord]

I hate to inject an element of dissention here but "doing the right thing" is not the standard, unless by "doing the right thing" you are adhering to SSA's laws and regulations.

[anotheroldtimer]

This is a great job in my opinion. You could make a lot more money if you wanted to put in the hours, but the pay ain't bad. And I do not worry about it over the weekend.

Much depends on the particular office you land in. Some are great, some are pits of despair.

The job can be as challenging as you make it, or as boring as you let it. If you want, you can do nothing more than show up at the hearing and hand the case to a writer with a UP or DOWN arrow attached.

But with the right approach, you may find that it is rewarding in its own way. Once you have had some hearings, and see the myriad claimants and their stories, you begin to understand why this process is necessary. No medical report can capture the reality of an individual. This is your goal. Take the medical evidence and apply it to the claimant's personal situation using the filter of your knowledge and experience. You look the claimant in the eye, listen to his story and make a decision. That, my friends, is indeed the essence of being a judge. Now, no one is going to prison, and there are no million+ awards. But to that claimant, it is a very important decision. Treat it as such, and you will do fine.

[privateatty]

anotheroldtimer, I think you just put into words what alot of us very much desire.

[morgullord]

Would that be the Kenmore poncho or the Craftsman poncho over the red spangled Martha Stewart Collection dress?