Atlanta Social Security Disability Claims and Hearings

Social Security disability hearings for claimants in the Atlanta area will be scheduled in one of three possible hearing venues:

• cases assigned to downtown Atlanta Office of Disability and Review (ODAR) are held on the 5th Floor of the Marquis I Tower at Peachtree Center.  Generally claimants who live near downtown or in south metro Atlanta will be assigned to the downtown ODAR.
   
• cases assigned to the North Atlanta ODAR are held in an office building at 3105 Clairmont Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329.  Generally claimants who live in the northern suburbs (Gwinnett, Cobb, Forsyth) will appear at the North Atlanta ODAR
   
• cases assigned to the Marietta video hearing office will be held at the Social Security building located at 1415 Franklin Rd., SE, Marietta, GA 30067.  The Marietta video hearing office has been assigned a number of cases from the North Atlanta office as well as cases that have been pending for more than 800 days.

Administrative Law Judges in the
Atlanta Area Hearing Offices

Most of the Atlanta Social Security disability judges are experienced administrative law judges and several have been judges in the Atlanta and Atlanta north hearing offices for many years. The judges who work in the national video hearing center in Falls Church, Virginia are also experienced and appear to have been selected to preside at video hearings because of their skill and efficiency.

During the past two to three years, several new judges have been added to the Atlanta area hearing offices, and hearing have been scheduled at a greatly increased pace. With a few exceptions, you can expect to receive a fair hearing if your case is heard in any of the Atlanta area offices.

Social Security judges, like any other judges, are people and each judge has his or her own likes and dislike and personal preferences.  Because Jonathan and Jodi are appearing at five to 10 hearings a week, we have appeared before all of the judges you are likely to see and we can develop a trial strategy that provides the judge the information he or she wants in the proper form.

Currently, both the Atlanta and the Atlanta north hearing offices are understaffed, and both are overwhelmed with thousands of backlogged cases.  While there are now more judges hearing cases, there are not enough paralegals, secretaries and other support staff to help the judges.  Therefore, delays continue.

Back in 2008, CBS News ran a two part series on its national news program highlighting the outrageous delays typical of Social Security hearing offices.  Since the delays in the Atlanta area were some of the worst in the nation, the CBS story featured several cases from the Atlanta area.

Atlanta Delays Have the Attention
of Senior SSA Staff

After hearing stinging criticism from members of Congress following the CBS story and other news reports, the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration decided to make Atlanta a priority and thanks to his efforts, the delays in Atlanta are not getting any worse.  Atlanta has been allocated more judges and resources than other areas of the country.   However, with the downturn in the economy in 2008 and 2009, more people are applying for benefits so the net improvement in processing time is relatively small.

Because of the delays and staff shortage, you and your counsel need to be aware of the following:

• Office of Disability and Review staff are no longer able to carefully number the exhibit lists or carefully put files together.  Social Security has implemented a new “bar code” system whereby documents and evidence submitted in a case must be submitted electronically over the Internet or by fax to a designated number.  Documents mailed or hand delivered are likely to get lost or delayed.  Our office uses the ERE (Electronic Records Express) system whereby we submit documents over the Internet and we rarely experience lost or misfiled documents
   
• ODAR staff are not equipped to update medical, vocational or education records.  Once a request for hearing has been filed, you (the claimant) and your attorney are solely responsible for updating the exhibit files.  Since hearing delays may exceed two years, you and your counsel must regularly provide updates.
   
• When you and your counsel appear at a hearing, your exhibit file should be complete.  If there are missing documents and you need to “leave the record open,” the decision in your case can be delayed months or years and when the judge sits down to review the file he will not remember you.  You are much better off making the judge’s life easy in the Atlanta Social Security hearing offices.

Disability Claims in Atlanta:
 A Reason for Hope

While the delays in the Atlanta area hearing office remain unacceptably long, we are encouraged by the positive steps taken by the Social Security Administration to streamline the process.  Paper files, for the most part, are gone.  There are no longer technical impediments to video hearings.  And, most importantly, the corps of judges in the Atlanta area are professional and competent - perhaps more so now than at any time in the past.

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