Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Ricky Lee Smith v. Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 17-5809 · judgment January 26, 2018

Decided · May 28, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 8% cert probability (95% interval 5%–12%)

Before the decision, about 1.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a Sixth Circuit decision below.

Question presented

The Social Security Act provides for judicial review of administrative decisions rejecting benefits claims: "[a]ny individual, after any final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security made after a hearing to which he was a party," may obtain judicial review of that decision in federal court. 42 U.S.C. §405(g). Disability benefit claims are initially heard by an administrative law judge; adverse decisions may be appealed to the Appeals Council. Appeals Council decisions rejecting a claim on the merits are subject to judicial review. But the courts of appeals disagree about whether judicial review is available when the Appeals Council finally rejects a claim on the ground that the claimant's administrative appeal was not timely. The question presented is whether the Appeals Council's decision to reject a disability claim on the ground that the claimant's appeal was untimely is a "final decision" subject to judicial review under Section 405(g). ORDER OF 11/5/2018: DEEPAK GUPTA, ESQUIRE, OF WASHINGTON, D. C., IS INVITED TO BRIEF AND ARGUE THIS CASE, AS AMICUS CURIAE, IN SUPPORT OF THE JUDGMENT BELOW.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Andrew John Pincus
Mayer Brown LLP

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 merits
(1 respondent)

Argument & decision

Argued March 18, 2019 — Michael B. Kimberly · Michael R. Huston · Deepak Gupta. Audio and transcript

Decided May 28, 2019. Opinion by Sotomayor.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 01 2019
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. May 28 2019
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
  3. Mar 18 2019
    Argued. For petitioners: Michael B. Kimberly, Washington, D. C. For respondent in support of reversal and remand: Michael R. Huston, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below: Deepak Gupta, Washington, D. C.
  4. Mar 06 2019
    Reply of respondent filed. (Distributed)
  5. Feb 28 2019
    Reply of petitioner Ricky Lee Smith filed. (Distributed)
  6. Feb 25 2019
    Motion for divided argument filed by the Solicitor General GRANTED, and the time is divided as follows: 15 minutes for petitioner, 15 minutes for the Solicitor General, and 30 minutes for Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below.
  7. Feb 21 2019
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit.
  8. Feb 21 2019
    The record from the U.S.C..A is electronic and located on PACER, with the exception of restricted documents that are electronic.
  9. Feb 14 2019
    CIRCULATED
  10. Feb 11 2019
    Motion for divided argument filed by respondent Nancy A. Berryhill, Deputy Commisioner for Operations, Social Security Administration.
  11. Feb 04 2019
    Brief of Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below filed.
  12. Jan 25 2019
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, March 18, 2019
  13. Jan 15 2019
    Motion to further extend the time to file the brief on the merits of Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below is granted, and the time is extended to and including February 4, 2019.
  14. Jan 14 2019
    Motion for a further extension of time to file the brief on the merits of Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below filed.
  15. Jan 04 2019
    Motion for an extension of time to file the brief on the merits of Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below filed.
  16. Dec 26 2018
    Brief amicus curiae of National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives filed.
  17. Dec 19 2018
    Joint appendix filed. (Statement of costs filed)
  18. Dec 19 2018
    Brief of petitioner Ricky Lee Smith filed.
  19. Dec 19 2018
    Brief of respondent in support of reversal and remand filed.
  20. Dec 11 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including December 19, 2018. The time to file the brief of Court-appointed amicus curiae in support of the judgment below is extended to and including January 22, 2019.
  21. Dec 10 2018
    Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed.
  22. Nov 05 2018
    Deepak Gupta, Esquire, of Washington, D. C., is invited to brief and argue this case, as amicus curiae, in support of the judgment below.
  23. Nov 02 2018
    Petition GRANTED.
  24. Nov 02 2018
    As Rule 34.6 provides, “If the Court schedules briefing and oral argument in a case that was governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(c), the parties shall submit electronic versions of all prior and subsequent filings with this Court in the case, subject to [applicable] redaction rules.” Subsequent party and amicus filings in the case should now be submitted through the Court’s electronic filing system, with any necessary redactions.
  25. Oct 29 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/2/2018.
  26. Oct 10 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/26/2018.
  27. Sep 21 2018
    Brief of respondent Nancy A. Berryhill, Deputy Commisioner for Operations, Social Security Administration filed.
  28. Sep 05 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including September 21, 2018.
  29. Sep 04 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 7, 2018 to September 21, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  30. Jul 12 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including September 7, 2018.
  31. Jul 11 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 30, 2018 to September 7, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  32. Jun 22 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 30, 2018.
  33. Jun 21 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 28, 2018 to July 30, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  34. May 25 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 28, 2018)
  35. May 25 2018
    Pursuant to Rule 34.6 and Paragraph 9 of the Guidelines for the Submission of Documents to the Supreme Court's Electronic Filing System, filings in this case should be submitted in paper form only, and should not be submitted through the Court's electronic filing system.
  36. Apr 19 2018
    Application (17A1121) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until May 25, 2018.
  37. Apr 13 2018
    Application (17A1121) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from April 26, 2018 to May 25, 2018, submitted to Justice Kagan.
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceOther