While the Social Security Administration feels that videoconferencing is an effective way to save time, most of the participants tend to disagree. Disability claimants usually prefer to explain their situations to the administrative law judge when they are in the same room together. As your Ocala disability lawyers can tell you, a videoconference is simply not the same as speaking to the ALJ in person.
According to literature provided by the SSA, a hearing via videoconference differs from a physical hearing only in the technology involved. The SSA also maintains that this is better for you, since a video hearing spares you the inconvenience of having to travel to meet with the administrative law judge in person. However, your Ocala disability attorneys will point out the problems with these statements.
Although you probably will not have to wait as long for a video hearing as you would for a physical hearing, your Ocala disability lawyers will tell you that this convenience is offset by the very nature of the technology involved in this type video hearing. In short, you become a flat, faraway image on a screen instead of a three-dimensional, living human presence in the same room as the ALJ.
No. As your Ocala disability lawyers will make clear, you can state that you are unwilling to submit to a video hearing. In doing so, you will have provided the ALJ with valid grounds to schedule a physical hearing.
Although you can refuse a video appearance, the same option does not extend to the witnesses involved in your case. Nothing in the rules governing video hearings allows you to stipulate that any experts be physically present. For such a request to be granted, this would be the exception rather than the rule.
Has your hearing been scheduled to be conducted via videoconference? To learn more about your options and work towards the best possible outcome for your Social Security disability case, contact experienced Ocala disability lawyers at the CJ Henry Law Firm, PLLC today at 352-304-5300. The initial consultation is free.
