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Post by overprivatepractice on Sept 9, 2022 17:37:45 GMT -5
Congrats to everyone who received an offer! I’m very excited but I have so many questions! I looked back at the prior classes, and they started a google doc with real names (board names if they wanted to provide it), location, and email addresses. Then they started a group account for messaging, etc.
I’m happy to do this unless anyone else wants to take the lead. Any suggestions for what type of messaging group to use?
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Post by tripper on Sept 9, 2022 19:31:31 GMT -5
Great idea. I did this in 2016. I’m sorry you won’t train in person but you can still develop relationships with your colleagues.
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Post by overprivatepractice on Sept 9, 2022 19:43:54 GMT -5
Great idea. I did this in 2016. I’m sorry you won’t train in person but you can still develop relationships with your colleagues. The person I spoke to on the phone today mentioned we might still have some training in person, but they were still working some things out due to Covid, etc. I don’t know if this was based on their personal knowledge or not. |
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Post by superalj on Sept 9, 2022 21:59:23 GMT -5
Congrats new class or as I like to fondly say our “baby” ALJs. As a pubescent ALJ experience wise, I just want to make some observations and offer a few suggestions.
As many of you are insiders, please understand this is an entirely different job with a different skill set as you will be directly dealing with the reps and claimants. The reps will test you and many of the reps have much more experience than you. Remember, it’s your “house” so learn how to control your courtroom and you should be fine. Always be respectful and courteous to the claimants even as you may have to be firm with some of the reps. You will encounter obnoxious reps that may disrespect you. Never hold that against the claimant as it’s not their fault-decide the case fairly regardless of how unprofessional the rep is. Similarly, the DWs wil test you. Some will draft what I call “lazy decisions” just to see what you will or will not sign. Don’t be afraid to send them back and always go through management as you are not their direct supervisors. As an ALJ, it’s your name that goes on that decision and it’s your name the reps, AC, USDC will see when they review your decision.
Unfortunately, you will not have the in office learning experience the rest of us had so you will be at a disadvantage. My advice is to stay engaged with your HOCALJ and fellow ALJs. Listen in and when you can, watch as many hearings as you can. You will find the style that most suits you. Remember, you have wide discretion on how to hold a hearing and are the fact finder.
Take advantage of the mentoring program. One thing the TPTB are good at is providing training and accessible mentors. All of those ALJs are well vetted so actively engage with questions and concerns.
Enjoy your training and make friends. I’m still close with many members of my class years later for questions, venting, and hanging out when possible. My understanding is some of your training will be in person. I’m sure you will be tired after those long days but go to HH and dinner with your new colleagues.
Lastly, understand the enormous responsibility you have to not only the claimants but the taxpayers. Do your best to be fair and reasonable. It will be tough because there will be cases that you want to pay but can’t and vice versa. When you encounter the really close cases and difficult decisions, you will have a mentor, HOCALJ (hopefully a good one as the vast majority are), your colleagues and your AAs and SAs to help.
Godspeed.
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Post by overprivatepractice on Sept 9, 2022 22:32:38 GMT -5
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Post by Ready-Now! on Sept 10, 2022 7:22:43 GMT -5
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cielo
Full Member
Posts: 52
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Post by cielo on Sept 10, 2022 9:48:46 GMT -5
Congrats to everyone who received an offer! I’m very excited but I have so many questions! I looked back at the prior classes, and they started a google doc with real names (board names if they wanted to provide it), location, and email addresses. Then they started a group account for messaging, etc. I’m happy to do this unless anyone else wants to take the lead. Any suggestions for what type of messaging group to use? I’m interested in joining a new ALJ group. Not sure of a good platform…maybe the Groupme app? |
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Post by Thomas fka Lance on Sept 10, 2022 16:42:56 GMT -5
As my name implies, I am a long time lurker, first time poster. I look forward to meeting y'all. I have accepted my offer, and I plan to be a long long long distance commuter to my position. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? Has anyone seen other helpful threads on the board that address this? TIA! There probably won't be a great deal of info on this because all prior ALJs either needed to be in the office, or if teleworking they needed to be within a two hour commute time of the office. That being said, even during those times many ALJs would be in the office during the workweek, and commute home on the weekends. Some renting apartments in the town of their duty stations, some staying in hotels. For years. Pay attention to the "for years" part Figure out what you can do until, or if, a transfer opportunity arises to a location you might prefer |
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Post by tripper on Sept 10, 2022 17:25:00 GMT -5
As my name implies, I am a long time lurker, first time poster. I look forward to meeting y'all. I have accepted my offer, and I plan to be a long long long distance commuter to my position. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? Has anyone seen other helpful threads on the board that address this? TIA! Will you be able to live at home and commute the four days or so you’d need to be in the office a month? Things might change but right now there’s not that many in-person hearings in my experience. And yeah, the rules are all different with the new contract. |
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Post by overprivatepractice on Sept 11, 2022 10:48:13 GMT -5
Congrats to everyone who received an offer! I’m very excited but I have so many questions! I looked back at the prior classes, and they started a google doc with real names (board names if they wanted to provide it), location, and email addresses. Then they started a group account for messaging, etc. I’m happy to do this unless anyone else wants to take the lead. Any suggestions for what type of messaging group to use? I’m interested in joining a new ALJ group. Not sure of a good platform…maybe the Groupme app? I downloaded groupme and it looks like it will work. If everyone wants to pm me, I’ll add you to the group. |
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Post by Gaidin on Sept 12, 2022 8:15:09 GMT -5
As my name implies, I am a long time lurker, first time poster. I look forward to meeting y'all. I have accepted my offer, and I plan to be a long long long distance commuter to my position. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? Has anyone seen other helpful threads on the board that address this? TIA! Will you be able to live at home and commute the four days or so you’d need to be in the office a month? Things might change but right now there’s not that many in-person hearings in my experience. And yeah, the rules are all different with the new contract. There are as many in person hearings as you want. You can request that all hearings will be in person. Some reps/claimant's may then request the hearing be moved back to telephone or video but the only barrier to a judge scheduling there hearings in person is whether the office has sufficient hearing room space. |
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Post by tripper on Sept 12, 2022 9:24:04 GMT -5
I guess it depends on your location. We do not have enough in-person hearings to even fill one full day a week most weeks and certainly not in October and November. But you can do your phone and video hearings from the office if you so elect.
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Post by luckylady2 on Sept 12, 2022 12:23:33 GMT -5
Action As my name implies, I am a long time lurker, first time poster. I look forward to meeting y'all. I have accepted my offer, and I plan to be a long long long distance commuter to my position. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? Has anyone seen other helpful threads on the board that address this? TIA! First, CONGRATS @adiminluker and everyone else who accepted offers! This is a wonderful, demanding, challenging, humbling job. I hope you all have great success and enjoy it! I had a long (130 mile round trip) commute to my HO and a requirement at the time to be in the office every day for the 1st year. It was exhausting. I had a fabulous HOCALJ, so after the first year, I only had to be in the office on hearing days ( pre-COVID), which made it doable, but still exhausting --sometimes. Luckily, I had a car that was comfortable and up to the task. I loaded up with podcasts & books on tape, found radio stations I like. I promised myself to notice one beautiful thing on the commute each day, and I pretty much kept that promise. I like to drive, so for me that kept the commute from being an oppressive chore. I quickly learned that to have the best commute, I needed to go early and stay late, which was ok, but meant that hearing days were long days. I liked doing it that way because I could get a lot done and interact with staff while at the HO, not just show up a few minutes before my hearings and leave right after. I also found the best schedule for me was to hold hearings 2 days a week back to back so my sleep wasn’t so disrupted by the long days. While I was at judge training, I lucked into finding a dog walker who was mature, bonded, reasonably priced and lived close by. On hearing days when the rest of my family was out of town, she came and walked my dogs midday, so I never had to worry about getting held up at work or in traffic. That was a godsend. But my experience was quite different for me than for ALJs with a 10 minute commute. I did not find lodging close by (like a small apartment or hotel) but looking back I wish I had, for a few reasons. There’s the obvious reason of respite from the commute (especially when I was doing back-to-back days! duh!). But always commuting from far away meant that I did not go to the after-work get-togethers with staff and writers, even though from the beginning, I’d always told myself I would, and considered it important. Making that commute again or turning a long day with a long commute on either end even longer was just too much for an already-exhausted me. I missed a lot of office parties. I did not get to know the town in which I was holding hearings. I also wish I had put a priority on getting to the gym or out walking/running more (my best stress relievers) especially in the beginning, when a lot of my patterns at work were set. Whatever you do to relax/decompress, I highly recommend making it a priority. You’ll be a better judge if you are not stressed, and you’ll have to work with the reality that a very long commute adds an element of stress. Starting out, there’s a lot to learn. There’s tons of support available — your classmates; the staff, writers, and fellow ALJs at your HO, and there’s an internal ALJ email group, and there’s sitting and retired ALJs on this Board who can be contacted by private message. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from appropriate people. None of us was born knowing any of the information or skills. We all had to learn it at one point or another. I hope you have a long and happy career as an ALJ! |
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Post by aljudgmental on Sept 12, 2022 12:32:13 GMT -5
There are rumors that you can do all your in person hearings one week and then your telephone/OVHs the rest of the weeks per month. This may help those who are going to be long, long distance workers.....
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Post by tripper on Sept 12, 2022 13:53:06 GMT -5
There are rumors that you can do all your in person hearings one week and then your telephone/OVHs the rest of the weeks per month. This may help those who are going to be long, long distance workers..... This will depend on how many hearing rooms vs ALJs. I think each office will vary in this flexibility. I would not be able to do that in my office. Some of our hearing rooms are being used for traditional video hearings to other sites as well as phone hearings with contract VHRs. We are expected to alternate with another ALJ so you’d have to have another person who wanted that type of schedule. |
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Post by nylawyer on Sept 13, 2022 20:10:24 GMT -5
There are rumors that you can do all your in person hearings one week and then your telephone/OVHs the rest of the weeks per month. This may help those who are going to be long, long distance workers..... It will also depend on what the mix of video vs live your office has. There are going to be some locations that will have claimants disproportionately demanding live hearings. I haven't seen a lot of discussion about this, but we may be looking at a future where some ALJs are never in the office, while others are there for most of their hearing dates. |
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Post by voyager on Sept 14, 2022 20:18:45 GMT -5
I’m interested in joining a new ALJ group. Not sure of a good platform…maybe the Groupme app? I downloaded groupme and it looks like it will work. If everyone wants to pm me, I’ll add you to the group. Does anyone know if the group was created and/or if people have been participating in it and sharing info? |
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cielo
Full Member
Posts: 52
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Post by cielo on Sept 14, 2022 21:30:35 GMT -5
Yes the group chat has been created on Groupme and ppl are sharing info. Let me or private practice know if you want to be added!
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Post by ba on Sept 15, 2022 20:06:02 GMT -5
Will you be able to live at home and commute the four days or so you’d need to be in the office a month? Things might change but right now there’s not that many in-person hearings in my experience. And yeah, the rules are all different with the new contract. There are as many in person hearings as you want. You can request that all hearings will be in person. Some reps/claimant's may then request the hearing be moved back to telephone or video but the only barrier to a judge scheduling there hearings in person is whether the office has sufficient hearing room space. I read your first sentence and immediately thought “space permitting, which is hardly a guarantee at the moment.” But, as usual, you covered it by the end of the post  |
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Post by Gaidin on Sept 17, 2022 22:09:08 GMT -5
There are as many in person hearings as you want. You can request that all hearings will be in person. Some reps/claimant's may then request the hearing be moved back to telephone or video but the only barrier to a judge scheduling there hearings in person is whether the office has sufficient hearing room space. I read your first sentence and immediately thought “space permitting, which is hardly a guarantee at the moment.” But, as usual, you covered it by the end of the post I wouldn't let you down. |
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