Background

This transmittal amends chapter I-2-1 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to provide updated instructions on case assignment.

Explanation of Content and Changes

This transmittal revises I-2-1-55 to clarify that a claimant may request to appear at his or her hearing by telephone, and the administrative law judge (ALJ) will allow the claimant's request if the ALJ determines that extraordinary circumstances prevent the claimant from appearing in person or by video teleconferencing (VTC). We also made minor editorial revisions throughout the provision.

The substantive changes are as follows:

I-2-1-55 A – We revised the heading of the section to “Case Assignment” to better reflect the purpose of the subsection.

I-2-1-55 C – We added a NOTE to subsection C.2. to address regulatory changes authorizing an ALJ to allow the claimant to appear by telephone at the claimant's request when extraordinary circumstances prevent the claimant from appearing in person or by VTC.

I-2-1-55 D.2 – We clarified that a time-limited court remand is assigned to the same ALJ who issued the decision or dismissal.

I-2-1-55 E – We added a new subsection E to address how we handle case assignment when a claimant has previously withdrawn a request for hearing or application.

I-2-1-55 F – We added a new subsection F to explain when a Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge may reassign a case to a different ALJ when a hearing has not yet been held.

Date: December 11, 2013