An Administrative Hearing for a disability benefit appeal is a private hearing. An Administrative Law Judge, or ALJ, oversees an Administrative Hearing and will be present in addition to a judge’s assistant. A judge’s assistant will operate a tape recorder to capture all testimony during the hearing. You and your Ocala disability attorney will be present in the hearing room in addition to any witnesses that either you or the ALJ has requested to testify in the hearing. Observers can be present in an Administrative Hearing room at the approval of both the claimant and the ALJ.
During the claimant’s testimony, some ALJ’s allow witnesses to be present in the hearing room, while other ALJ’s request that witnesses wait outside of the hearing room until it is the witness’ turn to testify. An ALJ may request that a witness wait outside while others are testifying if the ALJ believes it will make the witness’s testimony more credible. If a claimant does not want any witnesses to be present while the claimant testifies, the ALJ will respect the claimant’s decision and dismiss all witnesses from the hearing room.
In addition, if the claimant’s disability relates to a mental impairment, the claimant will not be present in the hearing room while the claimant’s family members and other witnesses testify. The claimant must wait outside to prevent the claimant and any witnesses testifying from becoming upset or unable to speak freely regarding the claimant’s condition. An Ocala disability lawyer may feel more comfortable asking the necessary questions if the claimant is absent from the hearing room.
To make an effective appeal at an Administrative Hearing you need an experienced Social Security disability lawyer. Call Ocala disability attorney CJ Henry today for a free consultation.
