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October 16, 2005 Update Cite: David L. Masters, Lawyer's Guide to Adobe Acrobat (2005) (ABA).


Searching and Legal Research
For The Social Security Practitioner

By Eric Schnaufer
October 15, 2005

I. Introduction

This workshop is published with hyperlinks at http://www.schnaufer.com/Dickinson2005CLE.htm. It discusses researching medical issues related to disability; suggests methods for locating on your hard drive your prior work product; identifies the primary sources of commercial and free legal authority for the Social Security practitioner; and reviews Social Security disability blogs, boards, and wikis.

II. Medical Issues: Can I Cite a Web Site?

    A. There Are Medical Issues in Every Case

The legal definition of "disability" is in part medical. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d), 1382c(a)(3). Therefore, a claimant's representative must have some understanding of each claimant's medical condition. How much a representative must know in a particular case depends on many factors, including the extent of the medical records, the clarity of any explanation or description of the claimant's medical condition, and the complexity of the medical condition. Even in the simplest case, a representative may need to explain medical evidence to the adjudicator or tribunal. And a representative may need to understand a specific medical condition to obtain from a physician or a psychologist an opinion demonstrating that the claimant is disabled.

    B. Educating Yourself is Different Than Educating an ALJ

Educating yourself about a medical issue is different than educating someone else, e.g., an ALJ or district court judge. When you educate someone else, the medical reference source upon which you rely should be unquestionably authoritative. For example, for any definition of a medical term you should cite the most recent edition of Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorland's), not Dr. Bob's Medical Definitions Web Page even if Dr. Bob simply copied Dorland's. You don't want the ALJ or district judge to doubt for a moment your definition of a medical term. But simply to educate yourself, Dr. Bob's web site may suffice.

    C. Citing a Web Page Correctly is Difficult

The Internet has millions of web pages about medical matters. Even if an authoritative web page is found, citing that web page correctly is difficult. In written advocacy to the Social Security Administration (Agency) or federal court, an attorney should follow when possible The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds. 18th ed. 2005) (The Bluebook) (order information at http://www.legalbluebook.com/) or deviate intentionally from The Bluebook. Rule 18 of The Bluebook governs Internet citations.

Under Rule 18 of The Bluebook, an attorney should cite any printed reference source instead of any Internet version of that same source. This makes sense. All printed sources are paginated when many Internet sources are not. Also, the Internet is a moving target while printed sources are not.

    D. For Definitions, Cite a Print Dictionary

Consider the definition of "lupus" in Dorland's. It is easy to provide a pinpoint citation to the definition on page 1072 of the print Dorland's: Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 1072 (30th ed. 2003). Citations to the free Internet versions of Dorland's have no practical utility. This is an attempt to cite the official web site following The Bluebook: Dorland's, http://www.dorlands.com/wsearch.jsp (search Online Dictionary for "lupus") (last visited Oct. 15, 2005). This is an attempt to cite another free site: Merck Source Home Page, http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_home.jsp (follow "Resource Library" to "Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary"; follow the dictionary to "lupus"). Do not spend a second considering using an Internet citation for basic medical information such as the definition of "lupus." You may, however, use an Internet source to copy and paste into a document and then provide a citation to the printed text. Further, at your option, you may provide a parallel citation to the Internet version. E.g., Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 1072 (30th ed. 2003), available at www.dorlands.com.

    E. For Drugs, Cite the Print PDR

For most information about medications, the authoritative source is the most recent annual print edition of Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), e.g., PDR (59th ed. 2005). Unlike Internet sources for the PDR, the print PDR is paginated. You may educate yourself using Internet sources for the PDR when pagination is unnecessary. Simplified drug data from the PDR for consumers is found at PDR health, http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/index.html. The actual PDR data for physicians is found for free at Drugs.com, www.drugs.com.

Alternative sources of drug information include Medline Plus: Drug Information, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html.

    F. For Medical Conditions, Cite the Print Harrison's

An authoritative source for information about most medical conditions is Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (16th ed. 2004). Because your time is valuable, as an initial matter consult Harrison's. If Harrison's answers your question, you can cite the print Harrison's as an authoritative source. Consider also subscribing to the Internet version of Harrison's, http://www.accessmedicine.com/. There is a free trial for the Internet version. Moreover, you can purchase as a package the printed Sixteenth Edition and access to the online version of that edition.

As an ancillary source, you may cite The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (17th ed. 1999), http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/home.jsp.

    G. Mine the Main Internet Repositories

National Library of Medicine Gateway, http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd

PubMed, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed

MedlinePlus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus

PubMed Central, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov

Medscape, http://www.medscape.com

    H. Search a Meta Directory

Emory University Med Web, http://www.medweb.emory.edu/MedWeb

Yahoo Medicine, http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine

    I. Investigate Medical Sources

State Boards, http://www.mhsource.com/resource/board.html

Pennsylvania license verification, http://www.licensepa.state.pa.us

    I.    llrx.com Guide

Gloria Miccioli, Researching Medical Literature on the Internet - 2005 Update (May 15, 2005)

http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2005.htm 

 

III. Your Hard Drive: Finding What You've Already Found

You have already briefed in district court the meaning of the Acquiescence Ruling for Sykes v. Apfel, 228 F.3d 259 (3d Cir. 2000). But you don't remember in which case. You remember that you mentioned Sykes in an e-mail message to a colleague. But you don't remember which colleague. You remember that you recently won a court case involving fibromyalgia. But you don't remember which case. It doesn't matter that you cannot remember if you are using software that indexes all the files on your hard drive, including MS Word files, MS Outlook messages, Corel Word Perfect files, and Adobe Acrobat files.

For the PC there are several free, powerful search utilities for a desktop:

o Google Desktop, http://desktop.google.com

o MSN Search Toolbar With Windows Desktop Search, http://toolbar.msn.com

o Yahoo Desktop Search, http://desktop.yahoo.com

For network drives, consider X1 Desktop search, http://www.x1.com/. X1 is not free. (Yahoo's Desktop Search is based on X1.)

 

IV. Docketing Information and Electronic Filing

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov

Litigators should use Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) to monitor civil actions. With PACER, it is simple to check regularly the status of all your civil actions. PACER can also be used to learn about your competitors and the dispositions of Social Security cases you did not handle. To do this, just search for "Commissioner" and "Barnhart" under the party.

    A. Supreme Court

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/docket.html

    B. Third Circuit

https://pacer.ca3.uscourts.gov/main.htm

    C. District Courts Within the Third Circuit

Delaware http://pacer.ded.uscourts.gov

New Jersey http://pacer.njd.uscourts.gov

Pennsylvania

Eastern https://ecf.paed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

Middle https://ecf.pamd.uscourts.gov

Western https://ecf.pawd.uscourts.gov/

 

V. Case Law

All precedential case law is on the Internet and is free. However, F.3d pinpoint citations are available only from commercial sources.


    A. Supreme Court

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html

http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

    B. Third Circuit

        1. Third Circuit (Official)

http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/indexsearch/archives.asp

http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/recentop/week/recprec.htm

o No F.3d citations

o Only cases from last several years

o Search for party name and case number

o Recent cases are in Portable Document Format (PDF)

o Published and unpublished cases

o Best for checking recent developments

        2. FindLaw

http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/courts/3rd.html

o No F.3d citations

o Only cases from last several years

o No sophisticated search mechanism

o Recent cases are in PDF

o No word wrap

o Best for checking recent developments

        3. Villanova

http://vls.law.vill.edu/Locator/3/

o No F.3d citations

o Updated once per month

o Archives since 1994

o No effective search mechanism

o No word wrap

        4. CD-ROM & Westlaw / Lexis

o Effective searches

o F.3d citations with pinpoint cites

o Word wrap

o Editorial enhancements

        5. schnaufer.com

http://www.schnaufer.com/3d.htm

o Recent list of precedential Social Security cases

o No search capability

o F.3d citations without pinpoint citations

o Only most recent cases

    C. District Courts Within the Third Circuit

        1. Self-published Cases

Delaware http://www.ded.uscourts.gov/

New Jersey http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/fed/search.shtml

Pennsylvania:

Eastern http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/us03006.asp

Middle http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/opinions.htm

Western http://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/

        2. Lexis and West

o Many more district court decisions than self-published cases

o Effective search capability

 

VI. Social Security Act

Social Security practitioners seldom need to review the Social Security Act. Internet sources are just as useful as commercial sources for checking a statutory provision.

    A. Social Security Act

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/ssact/comp-toc.htm

    B. Public Laws

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html

    C. United States Code

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/ch7.html

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html

http://uscode.house.gov

    D. Legislation

http://thomas.loc.gov

    E. (House) Subcommittee on Social Security

http://waysandmeans.house.gov

    F. (Senate) Committee on Finance

http://finance.senate.gov

VII. Regulations

Regulations are an essential authority for Social Security practitioners. Even though free Internet sources provide comprehensive coverage of regulations, the convenience and speed of a CD-ROM (copied onto a hard drive) is favorable to the Internet sources. Some, but not all, of the Internet sources are ideal for verifying the currency of a regulation.

    A. Social Security Online - Unreliable

        1. 20 C.F.R. as of April 1, 2005?

E.g., 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527 (2005).

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/cfrdoc.htm

        2. April 2, 2005 - present

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/final-rules.htm

        3. Social Security Online Search

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/search

            a. Concept, Boolean, or Pattern?

o Use "pattern" search for regulations, e.g.:

o consultative examination CFR

o treating source CFR

o substantial gainful activity CFR

            b. Comments

o Inefficient

o Imprecise
o Requires knowing too much


    B. National Archives and Records Administration

        1. Annual CFR

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html

o Reliable

o True copy of printed CFR

o Retrieve history CFR sections to 1996

        2. Current Regulations

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html (click on "e-cfr")

o Regulations in effect today, not just as of April 1, 2005

o Practitioner must still know what is in the annual CFR

    C. Cornell Legal Information Institute

http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/cfr.php?title=20

    D. Lexis and West Group

o Fastest when working for CD-ROM (copied onto a hard drive)

o No differentiation between April 1, 2005 regulations and newer regulations

o Word wrap

    E. Proposed and Recent Regulations

http://policy.ssa.gov/

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html

VIII. Social Security Rulings and Acquiescence Rulings

    A. Social Security Online

        1. Finding List By Year

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/rulings/rulfind1.html

        2. Recent SSRs and ARs

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/ssa-rulings.htm

        3. Social Security Online Search

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/search

Use Boolean operators with the term "SSR" as in:

SSR AND trial AND work AND period

    4. Disadvantages

o No word wrap

o Not easily searchable

        5. Internet Citation

The citation for an SSR or an AR at Social Security Online is ideal for a federal court brief whenever an SSR or an AR is not attached to that brief. Consider the following sentence from a brief citing an SSR for the first time in that brief:

At step five, only full-time work is considered. Social Security Ruling (SSR) 96-8p.[Footnote]

1 Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/rulings/ di/01/SSR96-08-di-01.html. By regulation, ALJs must follow Social Security Rulings. 20 C.F.R. § 402.35(b) (2005). Social Security Rulings are published in the Federal Register and at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_ Home/rulings/.

B. Lexis and West

o Boolean searching

o Word wrap

C. Search Tips and Sample Searches

o No substitute for familiarity with rulings

o Sample simple Boolean searches

1996 AND stoop!

stoop! AND light

o Do not assume that SSR includes acronym

((residual /1 functional) OR RFC)
(dictionary OR dot)

o Do not assume latest lingo

(medical /1 (advisor OR expert))

D. Federal Register for Recent SSRs and ARs

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html

IX. HALLEX

    A. Social Security Online

The HALLEX at socialsecurity.gov is the official version.

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/hallex/hallex.html

    B. Lexis, Matthew Bender, and West

    C. Search Tips and Sample Searches

        1. Review New HALLEX Provisions

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/hallex/hallex.html

        2. Understand Organization of HALLEX

Volume I has five divisions:
Division 1 - General Subjects
Division 2 - Administrative Law Judge Hearings
Division 3 - Appeals Council Review
Division 4 - Civil Actions
Division 5 - Temporary Instructions
Volume II
Part 1 - Circuit Court Case Reporter
Part 2 - [Omitted]
Part 3 - [Omitted]
Part 4 - Preambles To Selected Regulations
Part 5 - Appeals Council Interpretations
Part 6 - Appeals Text Guide

        3. Sample Searches

ALJ AND post! and proffer!

ALJ AND dismiss! AND (fail! /p appear!)

X. POMS

    A. Social Security Online

POMS Home Page, http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/aboutpoms

Table of Contents, http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/partlist!OpenView

Emergency Messages, http://policy.ssa.gov

    B. Lexis/Matthew Bender and West

XI. Social Security Online

New URL: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/

Old URL: http://www.ssa.gov

    A. What's There

o Social Security Act

o Regulations

o Proposed regulations

o SSRs and ARs

o Online Social Security Handbook


http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/handbook/ssa-hbk.htm

o Blue Book (Listings)

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook

o Red Book (Work Incentives)

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/redbook/redbook.htm

o Select forms and publications

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/online

o Some contact information for local offices

https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp

o Documents of interest to representatives

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/representation

o Legislation and Congressional Testimony

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation

o July 27, 2005, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - New Process

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability-new-approach

http://tinyurl.com/7lluj (PDF NPRM)

http://tinyurl.com/9hmyh (text NPRM)

    B. What's Not There

o Case law

o Many phone numbers

XII. Other Sources and Tools

    A. Google

http://www.google.com

o Search ssa.gov before socialsecurity.gov

    B. NOSSCR

http://www.nosscr.org

    C. Social Security Disability Advice CONNECT (Dave Traver)

http://www.ssaconnect.com

    D. Social Security Advisory Service

http://www.ssas.com

        1. Links for Social Security Practitioners

http://ssas.com/connect

        2. Useful Authority Not Readily Available Elsewhere

http://www.ssas.com/files.htm

            a. 137 Unskilled Sedentary Occupations

http://www.ssas.com/137sed.htm

            b. May 10, 2001 Childhood Disability Questions and Answers

http://www.ssas.com/childq&a.htm

      E. Charles Martin's e-mail List (for Claimants' Representatives Only)

        To subscribe, contact an existing list member for sponsorship.

        This is a sample e-mail message to Charles Martin's list:

        To: [Charles Martin's List]
        From: Eric Schnaufer <eric@schnaufer.com>
        Subject: [SS list] Allen (3d Cir.) - How to Cite Outside 3d Cir.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/3rd/042163p.pdf

The Third Circuit's 8/8/05 decision in Allen may be cited as non-precedential authority outside the Third Circuit. (I do not discuss the harsh results of the Sixth Circuit. There is Sixth Circuit authority contrary to Allen.) This message discusses how. I assume a claimant who (1) has no transferable skill, (2) has no exertional limitation, (3) is younger, and (4) reaches step five.

Sykes (3d Cir.): Sykes may establish a lower threshold for VE testimony than in other Circuits. To the extent that Sykes establishes a lower threshold, Sykes (and thus Allen) can be distinguished. There are two main ways to power an argument with Sykes/Allen: with or without the lower threshold. Citing Allen for a proposition that does not depend on the lower threshold has an obvious advantage. In other words, think about using Allen without getting into a big argument whether Sykes establishes a lower threshold than your Circuit.

Along the same lines, it is very important to distinguish between the notice aspect of Sykes and Allen and the underlying medical questions. Asking a court to adopt the Third Circuit's Sykes/Allen rule should be very difficult. A district court should not adopt willy nilly Sykes/Allen with respect to notice. Whenever possible, argue as though your Circuit does not have to accept the Sykes/Allen notice rule for your client to win.

    F. Charles Martin's Wiki (for Claimants' Representatives Only)

    G. Kevin Morton's Blog

http://www.jkevinmorton.com

    H. Cornell Legal Information Institute Social Security Library

http://www.law.cornell.edu/socsec

    I. Social Security Advisory Board

http://www.ssab.gov

    J. Government Accountability Office

http://www.gao.gov

http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/agency.php

XIV. Vocational Resources

    A. Dictionary of Occupational Titles

http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm

West integrates the Dictionary of Occupational Titles with the Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Revised Dictionary of Occupational Titles and Enhanced Guide for Occupational Exploration.

    B. Occupational Outlook Handbook

http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm

    C. O*NET

http://online.onetcenter.org

 

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