Background

This transmittal amends chapter I-2-8 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to update the requirements for Decision Writing Instructions.

Explanation of Content and Changes

I-2-8-20 – We revised the title to “Decision Writing Instructions.” We revised this HALLEX section to clarify the requirements for Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decision writing instructions. We added language in subsection A to emphasize that instructions should be policy compliant, self-contained, and concise. We also expanded the requirements in subsection B to include findings at each applicable step of the sequential evaluation process. We updated the NOTE under subsection B to remove reference to the Findings Integrated Template (FIT). We revised subsection C to include additional guidance on things ALJs should avoid when providing instructions. We removed the NOTE under subsection C, which deletes reference to handwritten and FIT instructions. We also made formatting and editorial changes throughout this section.

Date: July 17, 2019