Making an Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge

If you have recently received a decision from Social Security regarding your eligibility to receive benefits or the continuation of benefits you are already receiving that you do not agree with, you have the right to appeal that decision.

There are four different levels of appeal within the system. Making an appeal to an Administrative Law Judge is the second level of appeal, and assumes that you have already received a reconsideration determination that you did not agree with. A reconsideration determination, the first level of claims appeal is a decision that is made by someone at Social Security who did not have any part of the original decision making process.

If you have received a reconsideration determination that you do not agree with you have 60 days to file an appeal, which will result in a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

Making an Appeal

The appeal will take place at a hearing that presided over by an Administrative Law Judge. It will be at a location within 75 miles from your home. Most often these hearings are in person, but sometimes you might be asked to go to a location and present your appeal to the Administrative Law Judge via video conference. This is intended to make the overall process faster and hopefully more convenient for you.

Expect when making a benefits appeal:

• The Administrative Law Judge had no previous involvement in your case, and was not in any way involved with the decision you are appealing
• You have the right to attend the hearing in person, and area strongly encouraged to do so
• You have the right to a representative at the hearing, which is usually an attorney you have hired who has experience with Social Security disability claims and the hearing process
• You are allowed to review the information in your file
• You can present new information to the Administrative Law Judge at your hearing
• You can bring witnesses

Sometimes the Administrative Law Judge will also have arranged for the expert testimony of medical and vocational witnesses. A vocational witness is a person who has experience in your field of work and who can give the judge information about whether or not someone with your condition can still perform meaningful work.

After the Hearing

You will receive a written decision within 30 days of your hearing. If you wish to appeal this decision, you have two more levels of appeal left. Your attorney should be consulted regarding the advisability of continuing the appeal further, based on your personal circumstances.

Get Legal Help

Successfully obtaining your rightful disability benefits is a lengthy process, that is medically and legally quite technical. Just as you rely on the expertise of your medical doctor in this process you should plan to rely on the legal expertise of a lawyer who routinely works on Social Security disability cases. This is a team effort; make sure your team includes an attorney.