The Attorney Fee Branch (AFB) in the Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) must review
any proposal by a PC reviewer to authorize a fee in excess of $15,000. In such cases,
the PC reviewer will prepare:
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•
a recommended notice of administrative review decision, and
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•
a Form SSA-1178 (Evaluation of Fee Petition for Representation).
The PC reviewer will notify the AFB that the recommendation is ready for review by
sending an email to ^DCARO OAO ATTY FEE BR. The PC reviewer will attach the recommended
notice and Form SSA-1178 to the email, will use a read receipt to confirm proper notification,
and will notify the AFB if the underlying claim file is paper. Please do not send
any paper claim(s) file to OAO until OAO responds with the necessary routing instructions.
:
The PC reviewer will diary the case for 60 days to follow-up on the administrative
review determination from the AFB and the return of the file.
The AFB will review the recommendation and authorize the fee (either adopting or modifying
the PC's recommendation).