Don't Need no Stinking Lawyer -- Washington v. Kijajazi

 Washington v. Kijakazi -- published opinion on July 3, 2023. 

The case comes out of the WD Washington. The court uses a declination process for magistrate judge consent jurisdiction. Washington as a pro se claimant did not object. The district court and the court of appeal deemed the lack of an objection as consent to magistrate jurisdiction.  

On the merits, the claimant obtained a remand for further proceedings. The court affirmed the use of the credit-as-true rule:

First, we ask whether the “ALJ has failed to provide legally sufficient reasons for rejecting evidence, whether claimant testimony or medical opinion.” Treichler v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 775 F.3d 1090, 1100–01 (9th Cir. 2014) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 

Second, we determine “whether the record has been fully developed, whether there are outstanding issues that must be resolved before a determination of disability can be made, and whether further administrative proceedings would be useful.” Id. at 1101 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). 

And third, if “no outstanding issues remain and further proceedings would not be useful,” only then do we have discretion to find the “relevant testimony credible as a matter of law[.]” Id. Even if all three steps are met, “[t]he decision whether to remand a case for additional evidence or simply to award benefits is in our discretion[.]” Id. at 1101–02 (first alteration in original) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

The court held that because the ALJ terminated the analysis of impairment at step 2, remand is necessary. The court held that the existence of contradictory evidence justifies remand. 

Judge Fletcher would make the consent process clearer. 

Washington represented himself and did get a remand for further proceeding despite losing on the credit-as-true rule. The Federal Magistrate Judges Ass'n filed an amicus brief.  

___________________________


Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Don't Need no Stinking Lawyer -- Washington v. Kijajazi, California Social Security Attorney (July 17, 2023) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

The author has been AV-rated since 2000 and listed in Super Lawyers since 2008.