Crafting 24-3p into a Useful Tool for Representatives to Fight Against Job Numbers (Presented by the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

This session explores how SSR 24-3p provides representatives with new tools to challenge vocational expert testimony by requiring transparency in methods and sources. Representatives will learn the key language in the ruling that mandates raising relevant questions during hearings and the benefits of mastering vocational expertise.

Learn to distinguish between Job Browser Pro vocational experts who provide reliable DOT-based testimony and US Publishing experts who may rely on inflated SOC code numbers. This session covers red flags in methodology and the critical differences in how each source calculates job availability.

Explore the regulatory framework requiring DOT classifications including Wishman v. Kijakazi, SSR 24-3p, and POMS guidelines that prohibit using aggregated SOC codes for job numbers. Understand how SOC groupings inflate job availability estimates and why sedentary unskilled work essentially doesn’t exist in significant numbers.

Master practical cross-examination questions to expose vocational experts improperly using SOC codes and learn red flag phrases that indicate unreliable methodology. This session covers strategies for removing unqualified experts, responding to judicial pushback, and preserving issues through post-hearing briefs for appeal.