Litigation & Administrative Decisions

In addition to the actual laws and regulations governing SSA’s disability determination process, the Federal Courts create “rules” through precedential decisions that are published in the federal reporters or in electronic data bases, such as Westlaw or Lexis. 

This section of the website provides summaries of some of these decisions, as well as highlights of cases that advocates have won at the administrative level.

APPEALS PROCESS

SSDI and SSI claims proceed through SSA’s administrative appeal process before reaching U.S. District Court. For a summary of the appeals process.  Sometimes there are exceptions to the strict 60 day appeal deadlines, including “reopening” of prior claims.

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CLASS ACTIONS A number of class action lawsuits have been filed over the years challenging SSA’s policies and practices.  Read more for a summary of the major class actions affecting New Yorkers, with definitions of class members and descriptions of the relief provided.	BULLETIN BOARD The "Bulletin Board" contains information about recent disability decisions from the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

STIEBERGER MANUAL

Stieberger, et al. v. Sullivan is New York class action that challenged SSA’s policy of non-acquiescence in Second Circuit precedents.  As part of the settlement in that case, SSA agreed to publish and circulate to its adjudicators a manual of decisions from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The settlement also required SSA to promptly provide each office of decision makers and reviewers of decisions with a copy of each published Second Circuit disability decision issued after June 17, 1992 (referred to as the “Steiberger Manual”). Under the requirement, which sunset on June 19, 2000, each office was required to maintain these copies in a volume readily accessible to decision makers and reviewers of decisions.

The “StiEberger Manual,” along with additional history and details of the case can be found in HALLEX at http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/hallex/I-05/I-5-4-13.html.  Thanks to Gene Doyle, the Manual, along with transmittals of Second Circuit cases decided through November 2003, are now available HERE.  They are in PDF format and fully searchable – a quick and easy guide to the leading cases in this Circuit.

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COURT DECISIONS Decisions from the Court of Appeals and from the U.S. District Courts can often help advocates in future cases even if they are not published or precedential.  They may still be citable, or may generate ideas to explore or expand in future appeals.  This section includes articles highlighting recent court decisions.	COURT RULES The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the district courts within New York periodically change their rules or procedures.  This section includes articles on the most recent changes.

ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS

Even though decisions by Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) or the Appeals Council do not have binding or precedential effect in future individual claims, they may inspire advocates to use similar arguments in their own cases.  This section includes summaries of interesting or unusual cases submitted by advocates.  If you have a case that you would like to be included here or in the Disability Law News, contact DAP coordinators Louise M. Tarantino and Kate Callery.

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