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ALJ Error – Disability Benefits

By: Derek Hawkins//June 26, 2019//

ALJ Error – Disability Benefits

By: Derek Hawkins//June 26, 2019//

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United States Supreme Court

Case Name: Ricky Lee Smith v. Nancy A. Berryhill

Case No.: 17-1606

Focus: ALJ Error – Disability Benefits

The Social Security Act allows for judicial review of “any final decision . . . made after a hearing” by the Social Security Administration (SSA). 42 U. S. C. §405(g). Petitioner Ricky Lee Smith was denied Social Security benefits after a hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ) and later had his appeal from that denial dismissed as untimely by the SSA’s Appeals Council—the agency’s final decisionmaker. This case asks whether the Appeals Council’s dismissal of Smith’s claim is a “final decision . . . made after a hearing” so as to allow judicial review under §405(g). We hold that it is.

Reversed and remanded

Dissenting:

Concurring:

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.

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