An ALJ Hearing Preparation Runbook for Disability Practices

An ALJ hearing file is ready when counsel can trace the theory to the admitted or proposed evidence, explain what is still missing, and prepare the claimant without reconstructing the record in the final week.

The hearing date matters, but it is not the only date. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.935 and the parallel SSI rule, a claimant generally must inform SSA about or submit written evidence no later than five business days before the hearing, subject to the rule’s exceptions. SSA’s best practices for claimants’ representatives encourages early eFolder review and early evidence submission, and warns that duplicative or illegible evidence delays case preparation.

Build a hearing runway from the notice

Record the hearing date, time, format, location or connection instructions, ALJ, hearing office, vocational or medical expert notice, representative status, and every deadline in the notice or order.

Then create firm deadlines that leave room for record requests and attorney work. A practical internal sequence might open at 90, 60, 30, and 10 days before hearing, but those are management targets rather than legal deadlines. The particular notice, governing regulations, and hearing-office instructions control.

Each checkpoint should have a defined output:

• Early file review – certified electronic folder compared with the firm record
• Source update – treating sources, facilities, and missing periods identified
• Theory conference – alleged onset, insured status, severe impairments, functional theory, and conflicts reviewed by counsel
• Submission review – proposed evidence, duplicate check, exhibit treatment, and deadline confirmed
• Hearing readiness – claimant preparation, technology, witnesses, and open attorney decisions complete

Reconcile the electronic folder

Do not treat the exhibit list as proof that the record is substantively complete. Compare the eFolder with the firm’s source ledger by provider and period.

The ledger should distinguish no treatment, no record received, record requested, duplicate, illegible, submitted but not exhibited, and admitted. Those states are operationally different.

Connect the theory to evidence and contrary evidence

Create an issue matrix that lets counsel inspect the case without reducing it to a generated summary:

• alleged onset and amendment history;
• date last insured and title posture;
• medically determinable impairments;
• longitudinal treatment and material gaps;
• medical opinions and prior administrative findings;
• reported and documented functional limitations;
• past relevant work and work attempts;
• daily activity evidence;
• consistency issues and contrary records; and
• vocational questions counsel intends to test.

For each proposition, cite the exhibit and page when available. Mark a client report as a report, not as a medical finding. A useful brief-preparation system makes unsupported assertions easier to remove.

Control late and missing evidence explicitly

If evidence is still outstanding near the deadline, the file should show the source, request history, expected record, materiality assessment, and attorney action under the applicable rule. Do not let “records pending” sit as a generic task.

SSA’s HALLEX provision on evidence submitted within five business days of the hearing describes how an ALJ evaluates the regulatory circumstances for accepting later evidence. The system can preserve the facts and request history; counsel decides the required notice, argument, or submission.

Prepare the claimant from the record

Client preparation should cover hearing format, participants, oath, the claimant’s work and treatment history, functional examples, medications and side effects, daily activities, good and bad periods, and the need to answer accurately rather than guess.

Use the record to identify topics that may be confusing or inconsistent. The goal is not a script. It is a claimant who understands the process and has reviewed the same material counsel will use.

For remote hearings, confirm the selected format, contact information, private setting, equipment, interpreter or accommodation needs, and a failure plan. Preserve the client’s confirmation and any issue reported before the hearing.

Prepare vocational and expert work separately

Keep the vocational workpaper connected to the source record:

• past jobs, dates, hours, earnings, and duties;
• how the work was actually performed;
• exertional and nonexertional demands;
• transferability or skill issues counsel identifies;
• limitations supported by the record; and
• questions or objections reserved for counsel.

Do not let a job title substitute for the claimant’s actual duties. Do not let a generated hypothetical substitute for the attorney’s theory.

Use a hearing readiness receipt

Before hearing, the matter should show that the eFolder was reconciled, evidence deadlines were checked, proposed submissions were resolved, the theory matrix was reviewed, client preparation occurred, expert issues were prepared, and all remaining exceptions have an attorney owner.

After hearing, record the issues raised, post-hearing evidence or briefing allowed, deadlines, requests to sources, transcript or recording needs, and the next decision-review step.

Where DocketBuddy fits

DocketBuddy can connect notices, hearing dates, the eFolder ledger, medical-source gaps, source-linked issue work, client preparation, vocational questions, and post-hearing tasks. It does not decide disability, select the legal theory, draft an unreviewed brief, or determine how counsel should examine the claimant or an expert.