FIT Templates
WARNING: Previous releases of the FIT Template included a box to check for attorney vs. non-attorney rep, and that seems to be missing from the current release. Attorneys will need to check the language, at the beginning of the decision where their name appears, to make sure that they are referred to as an attorney, and will have to request that the ODAR staff add a page approving the attorney fee agreement. That seems to be a significant oversight, particularly since attorneys are a large potential source of proposed decisions. Did someone want to annoy them and make extra work for them?
Click the object below to see the screencast.
When would you want to submit a proposed Fully Favorable Decision, using a FIT Template?
-
First and most common, when you have a hearing, you are certain that the ALJ will allow benefits, and you know the precise restrictions that the ALJ is going to find, you can prepare a proposed decision. This might happen when an ALJ submits a single hypothetical to a vocational expert in a hearing, and the vocational expert finds that your client cannot do any work within those restrictions. Likewise, if an ALJ announces that he or she will find that your client meets a specific section of the Listings of Impairments, and why, you can draft a proposed decision.
-
Second, if you have a client waiting for a hearing, who clearly meets a Listing, particularly the definition of Mild Mental Retardation under Section 12.05 of the Listings, you can draw up a proposed Fully Favorable Decision. For the most part, though, unless you have a clear winner, submitting a pre-hearing proposed decision is not likely to succeed. The ALJ won’t sign the decision unless you have the restrictions almost exactly right.
-
Third, in rare instances, some ALJs have called attorneys and non-attorney reps, asking if they would draft a proposed decision, and listing the specific elements, or faxing them a list with the elements of the decision. I haven’t heard of that happening in Iowa.
When you prepare a decision, you should give it a name based on the first four letters of the last name, and the last four letters of the Social Security Number. So a decision for James Q. Sample, SSN 123-45-6789 becomes “Samp6789.doc”. Print the file, burn it to a CD, and mail both with a cover letter to the ALJ. You can also electronically file the proposed decision.
Why We’re Here
Our mission statement is, “To show the love of Jesus Christ through excellent and caring services, at the professional and staff level, for injured and disabled workers.”
Lots of people come to our office with physical or emotional hurt that can only be imagined. They are in need of healing.
Healing is done not only through recovery from injuries and illness, but through a recovery of faith and a right relationship with Jesus Christ. A man or woman who is healthy and has money can be more crippled than a man or woman with physical or emotional infirmities and financial problems. All the money in the world can’t buy fulfillment and peace. Jesus is the answer to that spiritual emptiness, as revealed in the Scriptures; for some people, a severe injury may be a chance to re-evaluate their relationship with God, through Jesus.
King David shared his joy, when he called on God, and God answered: “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” Psalm 138:3. Read more
About the Office
H. Edwin Detlie is an attorney admitted to practice in Iowa since 1976, as well as in the United States District Court for the Southern and Northern Districts of Iowa, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court,. His practice is limited to claims for workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability and SSI. He has practiced in Ottumwa since 1982, and opened a second office in Dexter, Iowa in 2009. He limits his practice to representing injured and disabled workers. He was recently appointed to Chair the Law Practice Management Committee of the Iowa State Bar Association, having served on the Workers’ Compensation Section Council twice and on the Administrative Law Committee for several years. He is currently on the Technology Committee of the Iowa State Bar Association.
H. Edwin Detlie served as President of the Iowa Association of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers from 2004 to 2005, is a Sustaining Member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives and is past President of the Wapello County Bar Association. He has spoken at continuing legal education events for Iowa Legal Aid, the Iowa State Bar Association, the Iowa Association of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, and regional and national continuing legal education events of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives.
He is also a consultant and legal content contributor for LexisNexis, the world’s largest legal publisher, in Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability. He recently joined the LexisNexis Larason’s National Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board, and recently consulted on details of the recently released Social Security practice tool, the Lexis Social Security Total Practice Advantage. He is a regular contributor to the Lexis Workers Compensation weblog, or blog, on workers’ compesation issues. He is also a member of the Association of Nazarene Technologists and helped to redesign his church’s website.To review the mission and purpose of the law office, click on this link. Before commencing private practice in 1982, H. Edwin Detlie was an Administrative Law Judge for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
Click below for a humorous video about rethinking the way we do things: