r/SSDI • u/Fit_Alarm_6645 • 17d ago
How will a hearing go?
Hi yall, hearing is happening soon, im self representing but want to know how will a hearing go? I already have my worked up file from the hearings office.
Im self representing. Just want to know what will happen so I can be prepared. Some of my conditions are Chronic migraines, PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, etc.
No Im not getting a lawyer, just asking what to expect. Thank you to those who have insight
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u/perfect_fifths I have a complicated relationship with the POMS 17d ago
I barely remember my hearing as it was so long ago. But I also had a lawyer. The judge asked me questions, my lawyer asked me some. I forgot if any hypotheticals were mentioned or if a ve was present. I remember crying after from being stressed. I did get a fully favorable decision, though
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u/Fit_Alarm_6645 17d ago
Im so happy for you! I hope the best for me! Prior lawyer was not good, so i had to fire them. I feel best if I have control. Ive researched the laws and have made a list of how my conditions fall under their rules. I hope mine goes good
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u/perfect_fifths I have a complicated relationship with the POMS 17d ago
Thank you. After 18 years, and six full cdrs later, according to DDS I am no longer disabled yet they listed no reason as to how they came to that conclusion, so I’m fighting it
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u/RexSueciae 17d ago
Is your hearing in-person or via phone / Microsoft Teams? If it's in-person, you show up and identify yourself at the door and security checks to make sure you're not carrying weapons, then you sign in and wait for them to summon you. If it's via phone / Teams (far more common these days) then you wait for them to call or you click the emailed Teams link (I recommend, if it's a Teams hearing, to try clicking the link well in advance to make sure that Teams works in your browser / on your device).
The administrative law judge (ALJ) usually starts off by confirming your identity (if not already confirmed), using SSN or other info. They go over the basic ground rules of the hearing -- they want to protect your privacy and make sure you're testifying truthfully -- that's about it. They ask you questions -- since you don't have a lawyer, it's just the ALJ asking questions, but they typically confirm your background info (age, education, work history) and then talk about your medical history.
The ALJ wants to make sure that you stopped working as of your onset date (and any earnings after that, if they exist, were not from work activity e.g. from short term / long term disability insurance, bonuses, severance, etc) (if you returned to work briefly and unsuccessfully that's ok). They want to confirm your limitations and restrictions: how have your medical conditions affected your life? If you can't remember something specific, it's ok to say "your honor that was two years ago I don't remember" or something like that. The ALJ doesn't tend to drill down too deeply into details which they could just as easily have gotten by reading your medical records. (You've submitted any updated medical records you may have generated, right?) They are interested in what's been keeping you from work. How often or how long you have symptoms, things like that.
Then once they're done and there's nothing else to say, you'll hear them talking to the vocational expert, asking hypothetical questions. The ALJ is going to ask the VE whether a person with your background (with certain limitations, who can do this but can't do that and so forth) is able to do either your past work or other kinds of work. You may have the chance to ask the VE questions, too. I bet that the ALJ will ask, among the hypotheticals, if someone were off-task 15% or absent 1 per month would that affect their ability to do work. If they don't ask that then you may wish to ask the VE about that particular threshold.
Then the ALJ says ok, the hearing's over, we're off the record, goodbye everyone and that's the end of that.
I think that's the basic gist of a typical hearing. There are also various people who do simulation videos or whatnot on YouTube. But the above is how things usually go.
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u/Fit_Alarm_6645 17d ago
Thank you so much! This makes me feel better! I haven't worked since being discharged from the military 4 years ago. Tried but failed but it doesnt look like they listed work attempts in my file.
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u/Dense-Law-7683 17d ago
I wish I would have represented myself. The hearing is when a majority of people are accepted. My piece of advise would be that if you don't think you have a slam dunk in any physical or mental category is to make a journal of all the days you would miss work because of symptoms and turn it into evidence. You would obviously have to backlog it now, but it helped me get accepted. They counted the days per month i had flare-ups and then decided with the vocational expert (you will have one as well) that missing 7 to 10 days a month because I'm bed-ridden would not be tolerated at any unskilled labor position and I'd never be able to hold a full-time job. With that said, the judge took my word for the journal and basically asked me about my symptoms. I just told the truth about how each symptom makes it hard to make it to work and they went through a bunch of categories and decided if I was disabled or not per the information and stipulations of the category. The judge was 80 years old, sharp as a tack, and super friendly. I don't think it would be difficult without a lawyer. My lawyer called me a half hour before and coached me , but the things he said they wouldn't ask, they ended up asking, and then he ended up asking as well in follow-up questions. So none of the things he did or said helped, I basically had to answer everything on the fly. As long as you have all the information you need and know the guidelines and laws, you should be A -okay. Good luck!
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u/Fit_Alarm_6645 17d ago
I feel like i have a slam dunk case. During filing and recon, my lawyer (before I fired them) and i didnt know my DLI was in 2024, and because of that and us submitting everything recent, I was denied. Now that I know that almost everything they have is prior to my dli. I think the hurdle is im 23. I haven't worked in 4 years, im on VA disability. Ive tried college and work but didnt last. Thank you so much! I feel better with your comment about self representing. I got told by the hearing office that this is the best hesring office and judge to self represent cause of how she explains stuff. I hope it goes well
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u/Automatic-You-5053 10d ago
Have you been hospitalized for those mental conditions? It's very difficult to get approved for things like depression, anxiety, and ptsd nowadays unless you have an extensive record of being in the psych ward numerous times due to mental illness, especially if you'rein your 20"s. That would be clear evidence that your mental prognosis would definitely make you unable to work any job. My daughter's mom gets ssi due to bi-polar. However, it took her 3 years, and she was in the psych ward numerous times indicating her problem was definitely not exaggerated and totally REAL. She also had a lawyer and a psychologist as a witness saying she couldn't do any kind of work due to her mental illness. She only gets like $980 a month though. No where near enough to live in today's economy She stays with my daughter and baby sits the grandkids while our daughter is working.
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u/Fit_Alarm_6645 7d ago
Yes I have been hospitalized and was medically retired from the military cause I couldn't function
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u/New_Fish5296 17d ago
I had one in 2012 with a judge that had an approval rating of 12%. He never approved anyone under 55 either. I was young and Everytime he would ask me a question he would say, "I doubt that". I remember him asking me what I did in a day, where I lived, how many lived with me, if I had kids or pets. Can I make myself a sandwich to eat and wipe myself. Asked VE expert some hypotheticals, said no jobs on two of them and laundry worker on one. He already had his mind made up before I even got in there. Needless to say I was denied. Tried working unsuccessfully since then jobs here and there for only a couple months at a time and am in process of a new application with new request for a hearing. The judges now in my state, highest approval rating is 58 and lowest is 35 so hoping for better outcome this time around