Second Circuit Issues Ruling in Clark
August 19, 2010
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in March in the Clark case, which challenged the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) policy of terminating/denying benefits to claimants with outstanding probation or parole violation warrants. Read More

Bulletin Board
June 21, 2010
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. Read More

End Note - June 2010
Happy Heart = Healthy Heart?
June 14, 2010
According to researchers at Columbia University, exercising, eating right, and not smoking may not be enough to avoid a heart attack – you may also have to be happy. The study, which was published in the European Heart Journal in February, is entitled “Don’t worry, be happy: positive affect and reduced 10-year incident coronary heart disease: The Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey.” Read More

Paper Files Available for Pro Se Claimants
June 14, 2010
Thanks to David Ralph of the Elmira office of LAWNY for reminding us of another useful Chief Judge Bulletin. Read More

Appeals Council Persuaded by New Evidence
June 14, 2010
Paralegal Amy Leach of the Norwich office of the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York achieved the near impossible - a reversal by the Appeals Council based on a claim of mental retardation under Listing 12.05C. The case involved a redetermination under the adult standards of an eighteen year old who had been receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Income) as a child. See 42 U.S.C. §1382c(a)(3)(H)(iii) (P.L. 104-193) and 20 C.F.R.§416.987. Read More

The Secret Life of Commissioner Astrue...
June 14, 2010
Many of you may think of Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue simply as the defendant in all those lawsuits against SSA. Read More

Childhood Poverty Affects Neurobiology
June 14, 2010
In May 2009, we reported on a Cornell University study showing that chronic stress from growing up in poverty can physiologically impact children's brains, impairing their working memory and diminishing their ability to develop language, reading and problem-solving skills. Read More

Martinez Class Members Provided Medicare Part B Protections
June 14, 2010
Thanks to Martinez class counsel, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has agreed to remedy a problem facing certain class members trying to get back into Medicare Part B. Read More

Appeals Council Goes Electronic?
June 14, 2010
If you haven’t seen it yet, you will soon. Attached to some Appeals Council correspondence is a notice entitled “Electronic Disability Claims Processing.” Read More

Newsletter Publication Schedule Changes
June 14, 2010
For the past twenty plus years, the Disability Law News has been published every other month. Given the extent of recent reductions to funding in the Disability Advocacy Program (DAP), we at the Empire Justice Center are no longer able to maintain this publication schedule. Read More

Appeals Council Remands to Different ALJ
June 14, 2010
In another example of achieving the almost impossible, LJ Fisher of the Rochester office of the Empire Justice Center obtained a remand from the Appeals Council ordering that the claim be assigned to a different Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Her client, who has HIV disease, first applied for SSI on February 18, 2004, and was denied by the ALJ on June 28, 2008. LJ had argued that he met 14.08N (now K) or alternatively lacked the RFC (residual functional capacity) for even sedentary work. Read More

ALJ Agrees Claimant Meets 12.05B
June 14, 2010
Buffalo Bruce Caulfield, paralegal at Neighborhood Legal Services, convinced an ALJ to award benefits to his client under Listing 12.05D for mental retardation. The record, as Bruce pointed out, contained ample evidence of the claimant’s long standing cognitive impairment and diminished adaptive functioning. Read More

Hearing Loss Listings Changed
June 14, 2010
The Social Security Administration (SSA) issued final rules revising the criteria of the Listing of Impairments involving hearing loss (Listing 2.00 Special Senses and Speech). The final rules are effective August 2, 2010. 75 Fed. Reg. 30693 (June 2, 2010). Read More

Bulletin Board - June 2010
June 14, 2010
Barnhart v. Thomas; Zabala v. Astrue Read More

Psychotherapy Notes Protected by HIPAA
June 14, 2010
How many times have you tried to no avail to get treatment notes from your client’s treating psychiatrist or psychologist, only to have an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge) deny the claim because there were no treatment notes to back up an assessment from the treating sources? Read More

Searching for the SEQY?
June 14, 2010
Advocates have frequently expressed their frustration when confronting questions about a claimant’s past relevant work without the benefit of an official earnings record. Read More

Greater Garnishment Protections Proposed
June 14, 2010
Rules proposed by five federal agencies would significantly increase protections from debt collection practices of freezing bank accounts that contain exempt Social Security and other protected federal benefits. Read More

OIDAP Comment Period Extended
June 14, 2010
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP) has extended the comment period on its report entitled Content Model and Classification Recommendations for the Social Security Administration Occupational Information System (September 2009) until June 30, 2010. Read More

Court of Appeals Issues Guidance on Credibility
June 14, 2010
In two recent summary orders, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has provided guidance for the evaluation of credibility in disability claims. As advocates are aware, credibility determinations can often be the linchpin of cases, and all too often, Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) make these determinations somewhat cavalierly, to say the least. Read More

District Court Remands After Finding Illiteracy
June 14, 2010
In Campbell v. Astrue, -- F. Supp.2d --, 2010 WL 1993851 (N.D.N.Y. May 17, 2010), Magistrate Victor Bianchini of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York issued a Report and Recommendation, adopted by Chief Judge Norman Mordue, remanding an SSI case for further proceedings where the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) decision to deny benefits was based on a finding of literacy that was not supported by substantial evidence. Read More

Web News - June 2010
June 14, 2010
Where is the Hip Bone Connected?; Find More Medical References; Access "Know Your Rights" Info for Veterans; Limited English Procicient (LEP) Complaint Form Online; TWP, SGA Charts Available. Read More

What Is...Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
June 14, 2010
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), previously known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) is characterized by intense burning or aching pain or autonomic dysfunction, which worsens over time. Read More

Update on Puerto Rican Birth Certificates
June 14, 2010
As we told you in the March 2010 Disability Law News, Puerto Rico is issuing new birth certificates as of July 1, 2010. Read More

Supreme Court Denies Cert
June 14, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review two disability claims arising from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Read More