u/DesiccantPack

I had my ALJ hearing yesterday. The SSA's CE report stated that I am severely affected by five mental health conditions, but did not specify which listings I met or why.

I hired my own forensic psychologist who performed a battery of tests, the results of which confirmed four of five of the CE's report, and provided the listings by number. The forensic psychologist testified first, and spoke in a narrative format, explaining why he made his determinations, and why high scores on his tests actually cut against my ability to be employed. He testified for more than half of the 45-minute hearing. The judge asked him no questions.

The judge asked me one question, which was, 'What did you do at your last job?', and my answer was 'Basically nothing'. I was employed by my ex-wife, and it was a no-show job that required me to answer a cell phone once every couple months.

The Vocational Expert got two hypothetical questions from the judge. The first was about unskilled jobs that one could perform without limitations, and it seemed that the VE had those prepared as canned responses.

The second hypothetical included elements from the expert's testing results and testimony. The VE's response was that there were no jobs in the national economy. After hearing that answer, my attorney chose not to present another hypothetical.

That was it. Three questions.

Have any of you hired an expert, only to have the judge not engage them?

I see many references to 'LN' on the GLP forum, but the vendor area has none with those initials.