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Post by cubbietax on Dec 1, 2014 8:47:25 GMT -5
bump
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Post by moopigsdad on Dec 2, 2014 7:51:12 GMT -5
BUMP
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Post by dudeabides on Dec 2, 2014 8:31:57 GMT -5
Note: The USAJOBs just listed an AJ position with the US Merit Protection Systems Board in San Francisco. Maybe this deserves a separate thread, but here it is. Deadline: 12/8/14.
Let the feeding frenzy begin!
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Post by orchid on Dec 2, 2014 8:51:27 GMT -5
Also posted 80 attorney positions in MD. Does that mean lots of new ALJs headed to Baltimore?
Job Title:Attorney-Adviser (General) Agency:Social Security Administration Job Announcement Number:SH1268463
SALARY RANGE: $63,091.00 to $82,019.00 / Per Year OPEN PERIOD: Monday, December 1, 2014 to Friday, December 5, 2014 SERIES & GRADE: GS-0905-11 POSITION INFORMATION: Full Time - Multiple Appointment Types NTE Two (2) Year PROMOTION POTENTIAL:12 DUTY LOCATIONS: 80 vacancies in the following location: Woodlawn, MD View Map
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Post by hopefalj on Dec 2, 2014 9:04:42 GMT -5
Also posted 80 attorney positions in MD. Does that mean lots of new ALJs headed to Baltimore? Job Title:Attorney-Adviser (General) Agency:Social Security Administration Job Announcement Number:SH1268463 SALARY RANGE: $63,091.00 to $82,019.00 / Per Year OPEN PERIOD: Monday, December 1, 2014 to Friday, December 5, 2014 SERIES & GRADE: GS-0905-11 POSITION INFORMATION: Full Time - Multiple Appointment Types NTE Two (2) Year PROMOTION POTENTIAL:12 DUTY LOCATIONS: 80 vacancies in the following location: Woodlawn, MD View Map National writing center. Part of the centralization of ODAR.
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Post by mamaru on Dec 2, 2014 9:09:19 GMT -5
There are no ALJs at a writing center - they do work electronically transferred from hearing offices and NHC's. Clarifying for outsiders.
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Post by sealaw90 on Dec 2, 2014 9:14:00 GMT -5
Question - why are these positions only term appointments? Is this just part of a new 'experiment' by ODAR to see if they want a national writing center? So when this becomes an epic fail (for whatever reason and for the sake of argument) what happens? These attorneys' 2 year term ends, but who is left to write decisions, especially if local offices were not allowed to hire decision writers for the next two years? Or do I have this completely wrong?
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Post by saaao on Dec 2, 2014 9:17:05 GMT -5
Also posted 80 attorney positions in MD. Does that mean lots of new ALJs headed to Baltimore? Job Title:Attorney-Adviser (General) Agency:Social Security Administration Job Announcement Number:SH1268463 SALARY RANGE: $63,091.00 to $82,019.00 / Per Year OPEN PERIOD: Monday, December 1, 2014 to Friday, December 5, 2014 SERIES & GRADE: GS-0905-11 POSITION INFORMATION: Full Time - Multiple Appointment Types NTE Two (2) Year PROMOTION POTENTIAL:12 DUTY LOCATIONS: 80 vacancies in the following location: Woodlawn, MD View Map Unfortunately no. This appears to be for the planned writing unit. This is part of the plan to take decision writers out of the hearing office and centralize them in dedicated units. I think of them as decision farms. Personally I think this is a horrible idea. When I worked in a hearing office as a writer being able to interact face to face with ALJ's was sometimes of critical importance and the rest of the time just made working out minor problems quick and easy. That adds up for productivity purposes and prevents remands that occur due miscommunication. Just knowing how an ALJ thinks and how they approach their cases was huge for spotting problems and being able to draft a decision that used the "voice" the ALJ wanted to present. And of course if you screwed up a decision because you were trying to move too fast and got sloppy you had to face that ALJ in the office. Putting writers in units takes all that away, and their only motivation will to be get decisions out as fast as possible. Not to mention there will be 80 totally green writers coming on all at once at a location where they have no exposure at all to the hearing office. Electronic communication can only go so far. Just my thoughts of course, and for all I know it might work out great.
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Post by JudgeRatty on Dec 2, 2014 9:24:51 GMT -5
Question - why are these positions only term appointments? Is this just part of a new 'experiment' by ODAR to see if they want a national writing center? So when this becomes an epic fail (for whatever reason and for the sake of argument) what happens? These attorneys' 2 year term ends, but who is left to write decisions, especially if local offices were not allowed to hire decision writers for the next two years? Or do I have this completely wrong? As far as I know, almost ALL of the new writer positions are term so they can test drive the applicants before making them perm. This is a wise move. It is much more difficult to fire a bad writer (or any bad federal employee) than it is to just let the term expire. This is not new and has been typical in the past few years. There are exceptions of course, but most are only term now.
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Post by sealaw90 on Dec 2, 2014 9:29:28 GMT -5
Question - why are these positions only term appointments? Is this just part of a new 'experiment' by ODAR to see if they want a national writing center? So when this becomes an epic fail (for whatever reason and for the sake of argument) what happens? These attorneys' 2 year term ends, but who is left to write decisions, especially if local offices were not allowed to hire decision writers for the next two years? Or do I have this completely wrong? As far as I know, almost ALL of the new writer positions are term so they can test drive the applicants before making them perm. This is a wise move. It is much more difficult to fire a bad writer (or any bad federal employee) than it is to just let the term expire. This is not new and has been typical in the past few years. There are exceptions of course, but most are only term now. But every new federal employee is a probationary employee for a year. They can be terminated for almost any non-discriminatory reason, especially for being a bad writer. Unfortunately, I have seen too few supervisors take advantage of the "fire before day 365" rule and yes, then you are stuck with a crappy employee! So do you think the national writing center is a good idea? Will it really work? I think sssao has some good points.
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Post by moopigsdad on Dec 2, 2014 9:33:55 GMT -5
A national writing center will fail in the end. You cannot outsource work and hope for the same quality as when it is done in-house. It is not just a bunch of interchangeable machines in the process and without much ability for an ALJ to contact the writers over corrections needed, it will lead to a lot of bad decisions being written. Try to communicate by email or spend a lot of time on the phone to make corrections, this isn't going to work well in the end.
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Post by bartleby on Dec 2, 2014 9:44:56 GMT -5
Almost all attorneys that I know that have been hired in the last 18 years have been hired on term limits usually 2 years and then converted at some time to full time employees. It is much easier to get rid of a term employee. As far as National Writing Centers, EBB is being designed so that the ALJ's will write their own decisions in the future. You will put in your prehearing notes and your hearing notes, taking during the hearing, push a button and get a rough decisional shell printed. You will then clean it up and presto-no need for writers. The Judges will not fight this because by that time they will be fed up with the problems with the National Centers they will be ready to write their own. This will also make it easier to grade/evaluate the Judge as the whole thing will be his and no argueing about the poor writing from the field.
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Post by luckylady2 on Dec 2, 2014 10:10:39 GMT -5
But every new federal employee is a probationary employee for a year. Yeah, and often the security clearance/background checks take the full 14-16 months these days - so more than the 12-month probation. Besides, it really gives the candidate lots of time to learn the job and then sink or swim. By the end of 2 years, the background check should be resolved and the candidate should be swimming on his or her own.
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Post by Gaidin on Dec 2, 2014 10:33:05 GMT -5
Almost all attorneys that I know that have been hired in the last 18 years have been hired on term limits usually 2 years and then converted at some time to full time employees. It is much easier to get rid of a term employee. As far as National Writing Centers, EBB is being designed so that the ALJ's will write their own decisions in the future. You will put in your prehearing notes and your hearing notes, taking during the hearing, push a button and get a rough decisional shell printed. You will then clean it up and presto-no need for writers. The Judges will not fight this because by that time they will be fed up with the problems with the National Centers they will be ready to write their own. This will also make it easier to grade/evaluate the Judge as the whole thing will be his and no argueing about the poor writing from the field. Bart do you think that this would require more judges? Obviously, the system as it exists now needs more judges but do you think this would require more judge's to do the same amount of work?
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Post by hopefalj on Dec 2, 2014 10:33:30 GMT -5
A national writing center will fail in the end. You cannot outsource work and hope for the same quality as when it is done in-house. It is not just a bunch of interchangeable machines in the process and without much ability for an ALJ to contact the writers over corrections needed, it will lead to a lot of bad decisions being written. Try to communicate by email or spend a lot of time on the phone to make corrections, this isn't going to work well in the end. I don't know that the NWC is going to be any more of a problem than in-house writing in terms of quality. Most judges and writers don't spend a whole lot of time in the office these days as it is, so a lot of our communication is electronic anyway. A well reasoned decision with good instructions and that is assigned to a good writer will result in a quality decision regardless of being in-house or at the NWC. The problem is that this combination isn't seen often enough. We have writers in my office that have received emails from outside judges where they openly wished they could send more decisions to them because the writing quality was so high. We have writers in our office that in-house judges have tried to blacklist from writing their decisions. I have preferences on which judges I write for if given the choice, and I've written for some really good judges outside my office. The big advantage of having in-house writers and judges is the familiarity that allows some additional efficiency. If I know what bartleby wants included in a decision and have familiarity with what he feels are the critical parts in reaching a decision, it's easier for me to draft the decision or to add/change something without asking for clarification first. If bartleby knows that I know what I'm doing, will write in English, and will include all the necessary factors and discussion that he's looking for, reviewing my decision is not nearly as onerous. A good writer-judge working relationship is an incredible tool that increases production and quality, although it doesn't happen nearly enough (except maybe at the NHC level where judges hire their own writers). The NWC eliminates that familiarity almost entirely.
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Post by onepingonly on Dec 2, 2014 10:34:18 GMT -5
Just a reminder that ALJs do not have a probationary period.
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Post by bartleby on Dec 2, 2014 11:15:45 GMT -5
It is a job for life, except when it's not... Ask some of our fallen brothers..
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Post by orchid on Dec 2, 2014 11:49:39 GMT -5
It is a job for life, except when it's not... Ask some of our fallen brothers.. Care to expand?
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Post by moopigsdad on Dec 2, 2014 11:51:44 GMT -5
I think Bartleby means that there is no guarantee it is a job for life. As SSA has been able to remove bad ALJs in the past.
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Post by bartleby on Dec 2, 2014 12:22:53 GMT -5
Bad = ??, low numbers??
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