Social Security Disability Law» Appeals Council

Should I Appeal My Social Security Disability Claim to Federal Court?

Spencer & Spencer — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:40:18 +0000

If your claim is denied by a judge, and you appeal to the Appeals Council, your only option for appeal at that point is to appeal it to the federal court.

In most cases, you have only 60 days from the date you received the denial to file your appeal. (Some cases only get 30 days to appeal. This applies if you’ve already been to Federal Court on your case).

When deciding whether or not to appeal your case to federal court, you must assess whether the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who denied you:

followed all of the laws, rules and regulations regarding Social Security claims, and
properly considered all of the evidence in your case.

The important thing to remember about appeals is that the appeal is not about whether or not you’re disabled. It’s only about the legal mistakes the judge made when they denied you.

Some common errors or issues to look for are:

Did the ALJ properly discuss all of the medical records?
Which evaluation(s) did the ALJ give controlling weight to in the decision?
What evidence did the ALJ use to decide you’re not disabled?
What evidence supports your disability? And what did the ALJ do with this evidence?

If you think there may have been an error in your case, you should contact an attorney. Appeals to federal court can be very complex and detailed knowledge of Social Security law is required to win your case.

To file your appeal in the Federal Court of Colorado, you have to file several documents, including:

a complaint,
a civil cover sheet,
summons
and the filing fee

The complaint is not a form that the court uses. It is a pleading that sets out what the issues are in your case. The court also requires that all documents be filed electronically, unless you do not have an attorney.

Because a short deadline is involved (only 60 days to appeal), you should contact an attorney who handles federal court appeals a soon as possible after receiving your denial from the Appeals Council.

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This blog provides general information. Do not mistake it for legal advice. Please read our disclaimer.

Why Do Appeals at the Appeals Council Take So Long?

Spencer & Spencer — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:55:07 +0000

Essentially, it is a numbers game.

There are not enough judges to handle the caseload. The Appeals Council gets approximately 100,000 appeals per year. In 2008, they only processed 81,000 appeals. Because there are more appeals each year than they can handle, they just keep getting further and further behind. The current average processing-time is 261 days.

Currently, the Appeals Council has:

46 Administrative Appeals Judges,
51 Appeals Officers (attorneys who review the appeals), and
several hundred support personnel.

In any given year, the Appeals Council denies approximately 75% of the appeals, remands 23% and reverses the other 2%. If your case is “remanded” this means it will be sent back to the hearing office for you to have another hearing.

Why are so many people denied by the Appeals Council?

Essentially, there are more people that have the authority to deny you than there are people who can approve your appeal.
The 51 Appeals Officers do not have authority to approve your appeal, they can only deny you.
If a judge thinks your case should be approved or sent back for another hearing, a second judge must sign off on it. If the two judges don’t agree, your case will be denied.

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What Is a Disability Appeal Like in Federal Court?

Spencer & Spencer — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:48:15 +0000

Federal Court appeals are very complex, and the details of what is involved in appealing a Social Security case to Federal Court can take up several books worth of information. This is just a short outline of what you can expect if your case is denied by the Appeals Council and you have to appeal to Federal Court.

If you are denied by the Appeals Council and would like to appeal, you must file a case in Federal District Court within 6o days from the date you receive your Appeals Council denial. This generally means that you have 65 days from the date of the denial.

First, you should know that there is a filing fee to appeal your case to Federal District Court. In some cases, the Court may be willing to waive the fee, but you have to ask them to do that in writing.

The Federal Court system has an electronic filing system. This is their preferred way to receive documents. You can learn about the system on your court’s website.

Filing your case in Federal District Court:

To file a case in Federal District Court, you must file what is called a complaint. This gives the Court a summary of why you are appealing. You then have to serve the complaint on the government agency you are suing, which is the Social Security Administration.

The government’s lawyer files an answer in response to your complaint. This is their summary of why your denial should be upheld. They will also provide you and the Court with a copy of your exhibit file and a written transcript of your hearing(s). These are usually provided in electronic format.

Written legal arguments must be submitted to the court. A briefing schedule is set and approved by the Court.

Briefs filed in Federal District Court:

• You (the Plaintiff) have to submit what is called an Opening Brief.
• The Defendant files a Response Brief where they explain why your arguments are wrong, and why theirs are right.
• The Plaintiff can then file a Reply Brief. This allows you to address any arguments raised by the Defendant in their brief. Our firm always files a Reply Brief.

The Court may request Oral Argument in your case. If this is happens, your attorney and the government’s attorney argue your case in front of the Judge who will decide your case. No one is allowed to testify and no new evidence is presented.

Once all the briefs are filed, and the oral argument is over, the Judge will decide your case. It can take up to a year (sometimes longer) to get a decision from a Federal Court Judge. These judges handle many different types of cases and have an extremely heavy case load.

Once the judge decides your case they may:

• Remand it (send it back) to SSA for more development of your case,
• Affirm SSA’s decision to deny your case, or
• Reverse SSA’s decision and award benefits to you.

If you lose in Federal District Court, you can appeal to your Federal Circuit Court. The process in Circuit Court is similar, but the filing fee is much higher.

Appealing your case to Federal Court is a complex process that is best handled by an attorney who is admitted to practice in Federal Court.

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If you'd like to talk to an attorney about your Social Security case, please contact us via e-mail, phone, or the Internet.