Background

This transmittal amends chapter I-3-2 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to provide updated instruction for proffer issues at the Appeals Council (AC) level.

Explanation of Content and Changes

HALLEX I-3-2 is amended as follows:

I-3-2-11 – We updated the cross reference in subsection C.3. to reference new section I-3-2-16.

I-3-2-15 – We made a grammatical correction to the title, changing it to “Claimant Informs the Appeals Council About Additional Evidence.” In subsection A, we updated the instructions relating to proffering evidence and cross referenced new section I-3-2-16. In subsection B.1., we updated the instructions relating to the Document Generation System template to use and noted appropriate language for the letter would be provided by the Executive Director's Office. In subsection C, we provide routing instructions to the employees responsible for developing evidence. We made other minor editorial changes throughout the section.

I-3-2-16 – We added a section titled “Proffering Evidence Received by the Appeals Council” and incorporated information relating to proffer previously in HALLEX I-3-8-10. We updated and expanded the information to provide more clear instruction regarding when proffer and offering a supplemental hearing is needed when additional evidence is received by the AC that the claimant has not previously seen.

I-3-2-17 – We added a section titled “Handling Proffer Issues When Evidence Was Received at Hearing Level” to address specific processing concerns at the AC level when evidence was not proffered at the hearing level.

I-3-2-18 – We added a section titled “Samples – Proffering Evidence Through the Field Office” and added sample language similar to that used by hearing offices to proffer evidence through the field office.

Date: April 1, 2016