Newlin - Hearing Function and QA Launch

The one-paragraph version. Hearing is where the case is won or lost. Case managers prepare clients for the ALJ hearing, gather the final evidence, coordinate the attorney prep call, and manage scheduling and post-hearing status. The best of this work is the highest-skill client communication in the firm. But the department also has the worst inbound miss rate (roughly half of inbound calls do not reach a person, because staff are buried in 6,648 outbound calls), a pervasive records and mail-room data problem that generates avoidable "did you get my paperwork" calls, and a gap in attorney coordination that leaves clients waiting. The client-communication craft here is strong; the operations around it are the weak point.

1. What the team does (the function)

Hearing is a multi-role department. The client-facing calls are handled by the case managers; skip tracers locate unreachable clients, brief writers prepare the hearing brief, and mail and quality control keep the file complete. The call work centers on the hearing itself.

The core work	What it looks like on a call
Hearing preparation	Explaining what the hearing is (a conversation with the judge, address them as "your honor"), and coaching the client on how to describe their limitations honestly and clearly
Evidence gathering	Chasing medical records, forms, and provider details, and getting them into the file before the hearing
Attorney coordination	Arranging the attorney prep call and relaying logistics between client and attorney
Scheduling	Setting, confirming, and rescheduling hearing dates and times, including court and ODAR contact
Post-hearing status	Managing the wait for the decision (the award letter takes 30 to 45 days after the hearing)

The shape of the work

Metric	Value (3 wk)
Outbound calls (prep, evidence, scheduling)	6,648 / 344 h
Inbound calls answered	1,053 / 126 h
Calls that reach agent-and-client	85%
Third-party calls (SSA, courts, providers)	12%

2. How the team performs today

What is already excellent. The hearing-prep coaching is the highest-skill client communication in the firm. In the calls reviewed, a case manager walked a client through how to answer the judge's "describe a typical day" question, gently reshaping the answer to show real limitations rather than capability. Staff also calibrate honestly: they rate a case's strength without false hope ("about a 6 or 7, and we have time to build it"), and they explain the hearing warmly. This craft is a firm asset worth capturing and spreading.

The core problem: Hearing misses the most inbound calls in the firm. Roughly half of inbound calls do not reach a person. The reason is structural: case managers are buried in 6,648 outbound calls (prep, evidence, scheduling), so they are unavailable for inbound, which rolls to voicemail. Clients then call the main line, and the overflow lands on reception. This is a capacity and routing problem, not an effort problem, and it is worst here precisely because the outbound workload is heaviest.

The other recurring breakdowns

The records and mail-room data gap. Call after call is a client confirming paperwork we cannot find: records faxed but not showing in the file, a mail-room backlog, duplicate forms. Staff cannot confirm receipt, so clients call again. This one data problem generates a large, avoidable share of Hearing's call volume.
Attorney coordination. Clients wait for an attorney prep call that does not come ("he was supposed to call me and I have not heard"). The case manager can relay to the attorney but cannot control the callback, so the client is left in limbo before the most important moment of their case.
Reassignment near the court date. Clients notice, and it alarms them ("I cannot believe they reassigned case managers this close to court date"). The pooled-team change lands hardest here.
Out-of-scope requests handled late. One client spent a whole call trying to get help finding a doctor before being told it was out of scope. Set the boundary early and kindly.

3. The opportunities

1. Fix the inbound miss

Half of inbound is missed because staff are on outbound. An inbound queue that routes to a ready agent (the Twilio model), plus balancing the outbound load, is the single biggest client-experience win available in the firm.

2. Close the records data gap

Records that do not show in the file drive a large volume of "did you get it" calls. Faster records intake and scanning, and a status the client can see, would deflect many of these calls entirely.

3. Capture and spread prep excellence

The best hearing-prep coaching is a firm asset. Turning the strongest prep calls into training exemplars raises the whole team and directly affects outcomes.

4. Make attorney coordination reliable

A defined process for the attorney prep call, with a tracked commitment and a fallback, so no client goes into a hearing un-prepped or waiting.

4. Solutions

Start now No new technology required

Move	What it fixes
A hearing-prep standard built from the best calls: explain the hearing, coach the answers, calibrate honestly.	Opportunity 3, outcomes
Set boundaries early and kindly on out-of-scope requests, and confirm records status clearly.	Client experience
An attorney-coordination checklist: every hearing has a tracked prep-call commitment with an owner.	Opportunity 4
Close-the-loop discipline on every promised callback and record request.	Follow-through

Soon (Twilio and operations)

Move	What it fixes
Inbound queue and skill routing so inbound reaches a ready agent instead of rolling to voicemail while staff are on outbound.	Opportunity 1, the miss
Faster records intake and a client-visible records status so "did you get it" calls fall away.	Opportunity 2
Screen-pop and balanced outbound scheduling so inbound availability is protected.	Opportunity 1

5. Folding Hearing into the QA journey

Hearing uses the same seven-fundamental standard, with two facets weighted for this high-stakes team: hearing-prep clarity and honest calibration (no false hope, no false promises).

#	Fundamental	The standard	QA check
1	Open	Name plus firm plus offer to help	Identified themselves and the firm?
2	Verify before disclosing	Confirm identity smoothly	Verified before case info?
3	Confirm the ask	Reflect the reason for the call in one sentence	Confirmed what the client needed?
4	Own it plus set expectations	Plain answer, or a concrete next step with a timeframe; set boundaries kindly	Concrete next step, honest boundary?
5	Capture plus correct	Log records and updates; confirm receipt clearly	Captured and confirmed?
6	Close the loop	Recap the next step and the hearing path, warm close	Recapped what happens next?
7	Rapport (scored)	Warm, calm, and honest; prep coaching and calibration without false hope	Scored low / medium / high

The human-in-the-loop model is the same across teams: the AI engine scores every call and flags exceptions (a client left waiting, records confusion, false hope) for coaching and exemplars (great hearing prep, honest calibration) for recognition and as training clips. This department is where the exemplar side matters most: the best prep calls are worth teaching from. Orient first, then score, then hold accountable.

6. The immediate next moves

Build the hearing-prep standard from the strongest reviewed calls, and a one-page Communications Excellence sheet.
Prioritize the inbound-miss fix (queue and routing) for this department first; it has the most to gain.
Scope the records-intake and client-visible-status fix to cut the "did you get it" call volume.
Stand up an attorney-coordination tracker so every hearing has a committed prep call.