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Post by garlow on Jul 22, 2023 13:53:41 GMT -5
any scheduling tips for the new ALJS from the seasoned ALJs regarding how to best schedule your 50 slots a month (less in the beginning)? Is it better to spread them out over 3-4 days a week; cram 5-6 or more in a day; do a tue/thu split, etc? Is doing two weeks on--two weeks off really feasible, or too stressful? Or other advice like: stick to 3 hearings a day and space them out in the very beginning so you can spend time on them; dont bother with lunch; or actually, do give the court reporters a lunch; put unrepresented claimants the end; etc.
Obviously, preferences will differ by person, but let us know if you have thoughts/advice on the options and best practices to manage your caseload and be efficient.
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Post by Gaidin on Jul 23, 2023 1:24:23 GMT -5
any scheduling tips for the new ALJS from the seasoned ALJs regarding how to best schedule your 50 slots a month (less in the beginning)? Is it better to spread them out over 3-4 days a week; cram 5-6 or more in a day; do a tue/thu split, etc? Is doing two weeks on--two weeks off really feasible, or too stressful? Or other advice like: stick to 3 hearings a day and space them out in the very beginning so you can spend time on them; dont bother with lunch; or actually, do give the court reporters a lunch; put unrepresented claimants the end; etc. Obviously, preferences will differ by person, but let us know if you have thoughts/advice on the options and best practices to manage your caseload and be efficient. You're not going to need to worry about this for months. You're going to have to figure out what works for you and is within the constraints of your office. Most judges do two days of hearings per week 6ish hearings per day. I take a lunch because I get hangry. I know other judges who power through. Most judges do 45 minute or 1 hour hearings. You should figure out what works for you by trying different lengths during your training period. During your training period try different days, hearing lengths, number of hearings, etc. Unless you have a really amazing scheduler you don't have control over whether your unrepresented claimants are scheduled first, last, or whenever. You will get a mentor and there will probably be other judges in your office that you can use as resources. |
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Post by nylawyer on Jul 24, 2023 16:31:47 GMT -5
One quick thought on whether to schedule a lunch- remember that you aren't the only one impacted.
I had found that the outside contractors, who were being paid per case, were thrilled to get the day done as soon as possible and generally were ok not having a lunch break.
But you may want to check, and at least initially do whatever the other ALJs in your office are doing.
Actually, that's probably good advice overall. There may be reasons particular to your own office that things need to be scheduled a certain way and you won't really understand them until you've lived with it a while.
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Post by hopefalj on Jul 25, 2023 17:17:55 GMT -5
I’m not going to add a whole lot to what has been said so far. You’ll figure out what you’re comfortable with over the next several months (hearing length, hearings per day, time to sufficiently review the files before the hearing, draft instructions after the hearing, etc.). Actually, you’ll figure this out over the next few years. In addition to your personal preferences, it will depend on your office’s scheduling practices (some make their judges go week on, week off for example), hearing room space, seniority, etc. These are all obviously important factors.
As for me, I’ve tried a number of different styles, all with hour-long hearing slots. Two hearing days per week with six hearings per day with two post-lunch hearings. Two six-hearing days per week with two unrepped claimants scheduled at the same time in my last slot of the day and no lunch breaks. Three hearing days per week with 5 hearings per day and no lunch break. Week on/week off with 5 hearings per day and no lunch break.
I found that I personally cannot handle more than five hearings per day without drifting away in hearing number six on occasion, especially when it was after lunch. I know a number of judges that have no difficulty doing 7 in a day, but that ain’t me.
In terms of a lunch break, every VHR and VE I spoke with said they preferred 5 straight from 8:30 through 12:30 with no lunch break to four through 11:30, a lunch break, and then one possible post-lunch hearing (though that was usually unrepped and showed up a third of the time). I have found a nice groove with my current schedule, so I’m able to do my job. It would be even easier if I didn’t have to do the staff’s jobs, too, but that’s for another thread.
One caution about doing a three-hearing day is that some/many VEs and VHRs won’t feel it’s worth their time for three hearings. VHRs may not have a choice, but VEs can turn down work or at least could in the past.
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Post by tripper on Jul 26, 2023 9:09:16 GMT -5
When all hearings were in-person, I was able to do 7 a day at 45 minute intervals. I found phone and video hearings take a little longer and have moved to 6 hearings at an hour interval with a lunch break in the middle of the day.
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Post by carrickfergus on Jul 26, 2023 11:18:52 GMT -5
You'll ramp up. Once I got in the groove, I've started doing 6 straight/day, every 1/2 hour, 2 days/week. Sometimes we run a little behind, but usually 1 or 2 are no shows. I start a little later in the morning to let people avoid rush hours. Usually done by 1:30 and everyone gets to go home.
As for your hearing days, it just depends on the office and availability of hearing rooms.
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Post by jagvet on Jul 26, 2023 18:07:18 GMT -5
You'll ramp up. Once I got in the groove, I've started doing 6 straight/day, every 1/2 hour, 2 days/week. Sometimes we run a little behind, but usually 1 or 2 are no shows. I start a little later in the morning to let people avoid rush hours. Usually done by 1:30 and everyone gets to go home. As for your hearing days, it just depends on the office and availability of hearing rooms. The choice and availability of hearing rooms, like everything else, goes by seniority. Before COVID, it was harder to get your choice of days. |
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Post by pumpkin on Jul 26, 2023 19:09:21 GMT -5
You'll ramp up. Once I got in the groove, I've started doing 6 straight/day, every 1/2 hour, 2 days/week. Sometimes we run a little behind, but usually 1 or 2 are no shows. I start a little later in the morning to let people avoid rush hours. Usually done by 1:30 and everyone gets to go home. As for your hearing days, it just depends on the office and availability of hearing rooms. The choice and availability of hearing rooms, like everything else, goes by seniority. Before COVID, it was harder to get your choice of days. And before you think that hearing room availability doesn't matter because you are conducting hearings by video and phone – hearing rooms are still a finite resource. Hearing room availability still matters because the VHR has to be in a physical hearing room location in order to operate the recording equipment. Just because YOU are not physically occupying the hearing room doesn't mean that the hearing room is filled with tumbleweeds. |
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Post by arkstfan on Jul 26, 2023 22:27:54 GMT -5
The choice and availability of hearing rooms, like everything else, goes by seniority. Before COVID, it was harder to get your choice of days. And before you think that hearing room availability doesn't matter because you are conducting hearings by video and phone – hearing rooms are still a finite resource. Hearing room availability still matters because the VHR has to be in a physical hearing room location in order to operate the recording equipment. Just because YOU are not physically occupying the hearing room doesn't mean that the hearing room is filled with tumbleweeds. This varies by location as well. Hearing offices with PRS often have contractors doing telephone and teams hearings from a remote site making it much easier to have several judges doing hearings on the same day. I know we've had days with multiple contractors at the hearing site, two working from remote sites, and staff working from home. I even had one where the contractor was working from a remote site for a different hearing office. Going to be interesting going forward to see the mix of manner of appearance. I've heard reps say they are starting to request in-person, others switching to Teams video, and quite a few content with telephone hearings. |
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Post by arkstfan on Jul 26, 2023 22:44:04 GMT -5
any scheduling tips for the new ALJS from the seasoned ALJs regarding how to best schedule your 50 slots a month (less in the beginning)? Is it better to spread them out over 3-4 days a week; cram 5-6 or more in a day; do a tue/thu split, etc? Is doing two weeks on--two weeks off really feasible, or too stressful? Or other advice like: stick to 3 hearings a day and space them out in the very beginning so you can spend time on them; dont bother with lunch; or actually, do give the court reporters a lunch; put unrepresented claimants the end; etc. Obviously, preferences will differ by person, but let us know if you have thoughts/advice on the options and best practices to manage your caseload and be efficient. Currently my office is short of ready to hear cases and we are capped at something like 32 to per month. At one time I regularly scheduled 60 per month. Two weeks of six per day. Then I started pulling a lot of travel dockets and switched to 56 by doing 7 per day four days a week, two weeks a month so I would only spend three nights on the road for travel dockets. Then went to 52 cutting my first and last day back to six for travel. Not sure what my scheduling is going to look like going forward. Best advice I can offer is actually comply with the agency advice to start slow and don't get all antsy and jump to big numbers quickly. Just keep taking slightly larger bites until you hit the range where you can get the work done in 80 hours per pay period without being stressed way out. Unless you are a late career hire, you'll be doing this for 20-30 years, don't flameout. |
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Post by barkley on Jul 27, 2023 22:49:01 GMT -5
Enjoy your early days as much as possible. Learn all that you can.
Right now, my office has asked for our December dates. So it is likely your HOCALJ has already designated your hearing dates for the first few months. Your dates may be limited, depending on how many judges your office has, how many hearing rooms, and how days are picked. In my office, the most senior ALJ puts their days on the calendar, then the next etc. I heard of one office where they alternate who picks first, regardless of seniority. I have a friend whose office just tells the ALJs to send dates to their scheduler and if too many judges ask for the same day, she emails them all and asks who will change.
When you get a voice, stick to the schedule given. It is designed to let you get adjusted to all the tasks. The job is not just about holding hearings. The trick is learning to quickly and correctly review a file, learning what issues need to be covered, learning what needs to be communicated in your instructions, deciding how much editing you are willing to do.
In the early days, if you feel like you have time on your hands, I would advise a couple things. One - find out when the other judges have in person days and sit in on their hearings. It is amazing how much difference there is in how ALJs handle this process. If you can, ask questions about how they handle issues and their docket. What tips do they have in documenting the files. Get to know your HOD, HOM, and Group supervisors. Developing relationships with these people will make your life easier. Offer to take your senior attorney to lunch and pick their brains.
At the start, I would schedule my hearings 4-5 a day, one hour to one and a half hours per. This will give you time between to think. It is easy to prep 4-5, and I would not leave the office until I had instructions in on all cases. As you get your feet under you, you can later shorten the time and increase the number on a given day. I would start out with a day between hearings, i.e T-TH or W-F. This gives you a day to prep, and tie up loose ends.
In my office, most people do 6-7 a day, two days a week. I sometimes do a M-W-F, because I like to have a week without hearings each month to catch up on everything. A couple judges in my office do 5 hearings a day, five days a week for two weeks in the month. It just depends how you like to manage your time.
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Post by beenlurking on Jul 27, 2023 22:54:45 GMT -5
Very succinct.
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Post by Gaidin on Jul 28, 2023 11:34:38 GMT -5
Also remember that no matter what you do: one day you're going to have a hearing with two MEs, a VE, an interpreter, and the claimant wants mom to be present as well.
Sometimes a hearing just goes like that.
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Post by jagvet on Jul 28, 2023 14:59:34 GMT -5
Also remember that no matter what you do: one day you're going to have a hearing with two MEs, a VE, an interpreter, and the claimant wants mom to be present as well. Sometimes a hearing just goes like that. Don't forget VHR can't get DRAP working, especially Monday mornings! |
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Post by rmspringfield on Jul 28, 2023 15:42:42 GMT -5
And do not forget the reps who don’t do a lot of SSIDI practice who think this is a murder trial with a jury that want to call the claimant, the claimants mom, the claimants neighbor, the cat, the dog, and present every witness but cannot ever seem to get the medical records submitted to the file. And they are just convinced if they keep talking and talking that you’ll eventually roll your eyes and grant a bench decision.
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Post by rmspringfield on Jul 29, 2023 16:36:19 GMT -5
Another thought coming from a long time claimants rep who did a lot of circuit riding. Whatever schedule you pick. Stick to it. Don’t be one of those ALJs who decides the day of the hearing they should have scheduled all 5 cases before 1 pm vs the scheduled order of 3 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. So the ALJ has the court reporter harass the reps to get the claimants to court early. Don’t be that judge.
Because it’s not just about your schedule. These claimants may not be working but they do have to worry about child care, coordinate with family to get to the in person hearing or to be sure they’ve taken their meds, made whatever accommodations they need to be able to physically sit through the hearing if they are in pain, made accommodations for pets and kids to be away for their virtual hearing. Not to mention the expert witnesses that have to plan their day and the reps who may have to see more than one judge that day.
The rules state any changes have to be made at least 60 days ahead of time unless the rep consents so if you want to be done by 1 schedule yourself to be done by one. Everyone else expects their 2 pm hearing to start at 2 pm and have made plans for months. The rep has been told to notify the OHO of her hearing availability 6 months in advance. Continuances granted only in extreme circumstances like death in the family or serious illnesses. It’s rude and unprofessional to expect everyone to rush to the phone or the courthouse at 10 am because you decide you want a long lunch the day of the hearing.
I had more than one judge who would send the court reporters to badger me into getting the claimants here hours early. I learned to ignore them. Because whenever I blew up the phones and ran around trying to make it happen the day of the hearing the same thing happened. The schedule always had a way of following how it was originally set. Either the VE wasn’t available or the claimant couldn’t find transportation or the court reporter would vanish.
I had a few judges I would try to accommodate but after one extreme example I stopped doing that. I had a hearing in a different city scheduled for 1 pm. We got a call from the OHO stating that judge wanted to start at 11. This OHO was 2 hours away from my office and it was 9 am when I got the call so I had to book it down the highway. We called the claimant, she had her spouse take off work to get her there early. I get there, meet claimant at 10:45 and the court reporter is shaking an 827 form at me wanting to know when we’ll be ready. I tell the reporter give me 10 minutes.
I fly through my prehearing show and we are ready at 11. No court reporter. I look around and the office is empty. Security guard hasn’t seen anyone. 11:15, then 11:30…I’m asking around but no one knows what’s going on. Claimants spouse is upset wanting to know who is going to pick up the kids from a school. Finally walk back to the courtrooms unescorted. Everyone’s at lunch. Right at 12:45 I look into my ALJs scheduled courtroom. ALJ is sitting on the bench. Eating fudge. With the VE, and the court reporter. Chatting away about the latest celebrity divorce drama. ALJ sees me in the window and waves me in. “Oh Counsel! Do you mind starting early?…” I look at my watch. It’s 12:55. Hearing notice says 1 pm…..
Never again after that.
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Post by arkstfan on Jul 30, 2023 12:13:11 GMT -5
One thing I've found is sometimes a docket just blows up and we are going to be hopelessly behind. Sometimes it will blow up and we will get way ahead.
Invariably if we get ahead the VHR will ask if they can call and see if people can go early. My rule of thumb is if a hearing is schedule by Teams, or the claimant is represented, the schedule is the schedule. The exception being Claimant #3 on the day is represented by the same person as Claimant #4. If we are ahead of schedule, then yeah I'll ask the rep if they are OK with going off early. Since I generally do notes and instructions after each hearing, there's been no problem I am aware of going early but we are talking 15-30 minutes early.
Back when I did only in-person, I did have a rep come in who had the claimant scheduled before lunch and the claimant scheduled after and asked if it were OK for the after lunch claimant to come in early. The pre-lunch hearing was penciled in to end at 11:30 (hahahaha) and the next was at 1:00. Well it was a day that blew up. VE lost landline service thanks to nearby construction just as we were about to start. So we get started 10 minutes late. Rep wanted the mother to testify. Clmt breaks down multiple times so mother becomes best shot at understandable testimony. Whole thing drags along. There are outstanding medical records so I end up posing like five hypotheticals, two consistent with the medical record, two consistent with testimony and assertions about what will be in the incoming medical when merged with existing medical. One more that was a disabling catch-all just in case record went there.
So we finish at 11:55. Rep checks with the 1:00, claimant says will be here in less than five minutes. After 10 minutes rep calls again. Claimant says I'm here in the waiting room. The waiting room is empty. I tell the rep, your client is probably at the field office across town. Sure enough. It's less than a 10 minute drive. That's fine. 15 minutes later no claimant. There had been a big wreck, significant enough to make local TV news that night and claimant isn't from the town and can't grasp not following the driving directions on their phone. Rep guides them in by phone.
We kicked off at 12:45. The rep and I agreed that in the future if he had clients on each side of the lunch break, we'd hear the post-lunch claimant following the pre-lunch claimant only if the claimant was in the waiting room by 11:30. Hasn't mattered since because not getting enough cases post-Covid to have a lunch break when I start at 8:30.
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