The Road to Federal Court
In a social security disability case, the road to federal court is a long one. A case is not appealed to federal court until the Social Security Administration (SSA) has denied the claim at the initial level, an (SSA) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has issued an unfavorable decision, and then the SSA Appeals Council has denied review of the ALJ decision.
If the Appeals Council does not overturn the ALJ's denial, you normally have 60 days to appeal to federal district court. New evidence is only submitted to the federal court in rare circumstances. In most cases, the court looks at the information the ALJ had when denying the claim. The court then decides whether the ALJ made any legal errors, and whether the ALJ's findings were supported by substantial evidence. The court makes its decision based on the written arguments made by the claimant and the SSA's response to those arguments in briefs filed with the court.
At the initial level, at the hearing before the ALJ, and at the Appeals Council, nonattorney representatives can assist social security disability claimants. This is not the case in federal court. In federal court, a claimant's representative must be an attorney authorized to practice in that court.
It usually takes several months for the federal court to decide your case. The court may order SSA to pay you benefits. The court can also send your case back to SSA for another hearing because of errors in the ALJ's decision. The court can also agree with the ALJ's denial of your case.
If your case is sent back for another hearing, it will take several months to have that hearing. If the ALJ denies your case again, you can appeal that denial directly back to federal court.
If the court agrees with ALJ's denial of your case, we would review your case to determine whether to appeal it to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals located in San Francisco.
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