Court Opinion

ID: 9585464
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:00:47.923954+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:47:12.679191
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I am pleased to join the judgment and the comprehensive opinion of the court. I write separately simply to underline the inherent unfairness in the ALJ’s having assured Mr. Nelms that the judge had an independent responsibility to develop the record and then leaving such a wide gap in the development of the relevant medical history.
Although the cold record is difficult to assess on this matter, I am concerned here that the ALJ’s colloquy with Mr. Nelms may well have had the unintentional effect of dissuading him from retaining counsel. An ALJ must be very circumspect, and even-handed, in his advice to a litigant and, here, Mr. Nelms may well have interpreted the ALJ’s advice as expressing the ALJ’s personal view that no attorney was needed.