Click this link for Congressional Testimony by the Honorable D. Randall Fry, President of the Association of Administration Law Judges.
He makes some more than fair points: noting the immensely short time judges have to review cases that are often hundreds of pages long, and that Administrative Law Judges have to do an immense balancing act protecting the interest of justice, the treasury and the claimant.
However, the suggestion that having a government attorney present at each hearing to oppose the claimant is not a solution. It will only cause more spending withing the system to pay for the extra attorney at each hearing.
Furthermore, many claimants don’t go into a hearing represented, and many of those claimants lack the capacity to be able to successfully argue their case opposing a government attorney. Social Security Disability hearings are designed to be NON-ADVERSARIAL. The system is overburdened, but adding adversity to the claimant is not the solution.
