SSAOBENE0001 - Hearing Level - Procedures

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Agency Scheme:

SSAOBENE0001

ADJUDICATION STRUCTURE

Hearing Level: Basic Structure

Name of Hearing Office (local name):

Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge

Name of Hearing Office (global name):

Social Security Administration: Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge

Sub-Agency/Bureau/Division::

Office of Disability Adjudication and Review

Hearing Officer #1 (Title):

Administrative Law Judge

Hearing Officer #2 (Title):

Attorney adjudicators

Are administrative appeals permitted from final decisions at the hearing-level stage?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

Comments/Notes on Adjudication Structure:

SSA administers two disability programs: Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. Claimants appeal reconsideration determinations (and initial determinations in "prototype" states) to the hearing level, which is overseen by the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge. Although ALJs hear the cases, the proceedings are informal and non-adversarial. Claimants may appeal ALJ decisions to the Appeals Council.

Under the Attorney Advisor program, attorney advisors may conduct certain prehearing procedures and issue fully favorable decisions under limited circumstances. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.942 and 416.1442; Chief Judge Bulletin 07-10 REV4.

In representative sanction cases, the Agency is represented by the Office of the General Counsel.

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - General Information

Are private parties permitted to have representation at hearings?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

Who may serve as a private party representative?:

Either

About what percentage of private parties were represented at hearings (FY2013)?:

78.00%

Is the agency permitted to have representation at hearings?:

Yes (Some Types of Cases)

Regulations/rules of practice for hearings (please include CFR citations):

20 CFR 404.929-404.961, 405.301-405.383, 408.1040-408.1045, 416.1429-416.1461

Other published guidance for hearings (if any):

Hearings, Appeals, and Litigation Law (HALLEX) Manual

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - Pre-Hearing Procedure

Is discovery permitted by either party at the hearing-level stage?:

Does the hearing officer have subpoena authority?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

Are ex parte contacts prohibited?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

Are parties provided notice of hearing?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

How far in advance of the hearing date is notice typically provided?:

20 Days

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - Hearing Procedure

What types of hearings are permitted at the hearing-level stage?:

Written (Document-Only) Hearing

In-Person

Video

Phone

Please provide the approximate percentage of each type of hearing relative to the total number of hearings (FY2013)

Written (Document-Only) Hearing:

In-Person:

74%

Video:

26%

Phone:

How is the type of hearing selected:

By Agency

Required by Rule

Please describe:

The Agency determines the time and place of a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, and how appearances will be made. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.936 and 416.1436. The ALJ will respond to any objections raised by the claimant about the manner of his or her appearance." HALLEX I-2-3-10 A.1. "The ALJ will determine whether any person other than the claimant, including a medical or vocational expert, will appear at the hearing in person, by VTC, or by telephone." HALLEX I-2-3-10 A.2.

How many hearing officers preside at each hearing?:

One

Is witness testimony permitted at hearings?:

Varies by Case

If "Varies by Case," please describe:

Both expert and lay witness testimony is permitted at hearings. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.950(e) and 416.1450(e) ("Witnesses may appear at a hearing in person or . . . by video teleconferencing or telephone. . . . The administrative law judge may ask the witness any questions material to the issues and will allow the parties or their designated representatives to do so."); HALLEX I-2-6-60 A ("The ALJ determines the subject and scope of claimants' and witnesses' testimony, and how and when they will testify at the hearing (e.g., the ALJ may decide to use the question and answer method or allow the claimant or witness to testify in his or her own way)."). This question is not applicable to document-only hearings.

Can parties cross-examine witnesses?:

Varies by Case

If "Varies by Case," please describe:

Cross-examination is permitted in oral hearings. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.929 and 416.1429 ("At the hearing you may . . . present and question witnesses."). This question is not applicable to document-only hearings.

Can third-parties submit amicus briefs and/or evidence?:

Only with Consent of Parties

Are hearings recorded and/or transcribed?:

Yes

Are hearings open to the public?:

Varies by Case

If "Varies by Case," please describe:

"The hearing is open to the claimant and to other persons the ALJ considers necessary and proper." HALLEX I-2-6-1. This question is not applicable to document-only hearings.

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - Post-Hearing Procedure

Who typically drafts the decision at the hearing-level stage?:

Staff Attorney

Other

If "Other," please specify (drafts):

In addition to attorney advisors, paralegal specialists draft decisions at the hearing level.

Who has authority to issue final decisions?:

Adjudication Officer

Other

If "Other," please specify:

Do agency regulations or guidance provide time limits for issuance of final decisions?:

Yes (Some Types of Cases)

If "Yes," please specify these time limit(s):

Supplemental Security Income post-eligibility cases, which represent a small portion of our workload, must be processed in 90 days. Specifically, under 20 C.F.R. § 416.1453(c)(1), an ALJ "must issue the hearing decision no later than 90 days after the request for hearing is filed" unless "[t]he matter to be decided is whether you are disabled," or "[t]here is good cause for extending the time period because of unavoidable circumstances."

About how long does it take on average—as of FY2013—to adjudicate claims/cases at the hearinglevel stage (i.e., from case filing:

382 Days

Is judicial review available after issuance of a final decision?:

Yes (Some Types of Cases)

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - Case Management

How are claims/cases processed at the hearing-level stage?:

Other

Please briefly describe your case management practice(s) at the hearing level stage:

Generally, claims/cases are processed on a first-in/first out basis. "The HOCALJ generally assigns cases to ALJs on a rotational basis, with the earliest (i.e., oldest) RHs receiving priority, unless there is a special situation that requires a change in the order in which a case is assigned." HALLEX I-2-1-55 A. "The objective is to hold a hearing as soon as possible after the request for hearing (RH) is filed, at a site convenient to the claimant." HALLEX I-2-3-10. Under the Attorney Advisor program, the National Screening Unit identifies cases with the highest probability of resulting in a fully favorable decision.

Does the agency permit web-based electronic filing of hearing-related briefs or other documents?:

Yes

Are final decisions published and/or posted on the agency website?:

Do agency regulations/rules of practice specify the contents of the administrative record at the hearing-level stage?:

Yes (All Types of Cases)

If "Yes," please provide citation(s):

Under 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.944 and 416.1444, the ALJ "accepts as evidence any documents that are material to the issues." HALLEX I-2-1-15, "Exhibits," also provides guidance in this area.

Do agency regulations/rules of practice provide for closure of the record at the hearing-level stage (subject to applicable exce:

Yes (Some Types of Cases)

If "Yes," please provide citation(s):

20 CFR 405.331

PROCESS & PROCEDURE - Comments

Comments/Notes on Hearing-Level Process & Procedures (Optional):

SSA has divided the country into ten regions. Region I operates under slightly different regulations than the other nine regions (see 20 CFR Part 405). The two biggest differences--as it relates to the hearing--between Region I and the other nine regions are: (1) Region I is required to give notice of the hearing 75 days in advance of the hearing date (the other regions are required to provide 20 days' notice) and (2) Region I has a closure of the record provision by which, with certain exceptions, the hearing record closes five days prior to the hearing date. The exact hearing office varies. ODAR has 168 hearing and satellite hearing offices and 5 National Hearing Centers (video hearings only). With respect to the percentages provided above, we do not have data on the percentage of telephone hearings, or on when an ALJ issues a fully favorable hearing decision without holding an oral hearing. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.948(a) and 416.1448(a) ("If the evidence in the hearing record supports a finding in favor of you and all the parties on every issue, the administrative law judge may issue a hearing decision based on a preponderance of the evidence without holding an oral hearing").

ADJUDICATORS

Total # of Hearing Officers:

1 486

Information About Officer:

Adjudication Officer Title	Job Series	Pay Plan	Pay Range	Are persons in this position subject to performance evaluation?	Are persons in this position employed full-time as adjudication officers?	If "No", briefly describe other duties:	Are persons in this position subject to quality control measures or production goals?	If "Yes," briefly describe:
Administrative Law Judge	0935-Administrative Law Judge	AL	01-03	No	Yes	We note that Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judges hear and decide cases, and have administrative and managerial responsibility for all personnel in the hearing office . . . . HALLEX I-2-0-5 A.	No	In 2007, the Chief Administrative Law Judge wrote a letter asking ALJs to issue 500-700 legally sufficient decisions each year. Further, in July 2011, we instituted a cap on the number of cases ALJs may issue in a year. In Fiscal Year 2010, the Office of Appellate Operations created the Division of Quality (DQ) to focus specifically on improving the quality of our disability process. While Appeals Council remands provide a quality measure on ALJ denials, DQ reviews a statistically valid sample of unappealed favorable ALJ hearing decisions. DQ also performs post-effectuation focused reviews looking at specific issues. Moreover, the Office of Quality Review conducts Disability Case Reviews of sampled ALJ hearing decisions.
Attorney adjudicators	0905-Gen'l Attorney Series	GS	13-15	Yes	No	Attorney advisors provide professional legal assistance to ALJs by taking part in prehearing legal preparation, research, decision preparation, and post-hearing actions. As noted above, attorney advisors may conduct certain prehearing procedures and issue fully favorable decisions under limited circumstances. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.942 and 416.1442; Chief Judge Bulletin 07-10 REV4.	Yes	We do not have production goals for attorney advisors. With respect to quality control measures, the Office of Quality Review conducts ongoing reviews of senior attorney decisions.

Comments/Notes on Hearing-Level Adjudicators (Optional):

The number of hearing officers (1,486) does not include senior attorneys. Hearing officer #2, Attorney adjudicator, includes GS-13 Senior Attorney Advisors, Supervisory Attorney Advisors, and GS-13 or above Regional Office attorneys.

ADR: General Information

Is ADR available at one or more points during the hearing process?:

ADR – Summary Statistics

For Fiscal Year 2013, please provide the following annual ADR statistics:

CASELOAD STATISTICS - Summary Statistics

Total # Cases Filed/Opened (FY2013):

826 635

Total # Cases Decided/Closed (FY2013):

793 580

Total # Cases Pending (End of FY2013):

847 984

CASELOAD STATISTICS - Supplementary Statistics

Does your agency maintain annual caseload statistics for this hearing office by case type (e.g., discrimination complaint, licen:

Yes

If "Yes," please indicate preferred format below.:

By providing case type statistics on this form

Supplementary Caseload Statistics by Case Type:

Case Type	Total # Cases Filed/Opened (FY2013)	Total # Cases Decided/Closed (FY2013)	Total # Cases Pending (End of FY2013)
Title 2	276 623	246 857	261 709
Title 16	243 300	230 345	254 969
Concurrent (Titles 2 and 16)	306 712	316 378	331 306
Representative sanctions		22

Verified by Agency:

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SSAOBENE0001 - Hearing Level - Procedures