Mark Schafer, Little rock , Arkansas Odar Office, Administrative Law Judge
For the 2011 *fiscal year, Judge Mark Schafer has disposed 21 cases at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) in ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA. Out of those 21 dispostions, 7 were dismissed, 5 were approved and 9 were denied. This means that the percentage of depositions that Judge Mark Schafer has approved in ALEXANDRIA for the 2011 fiscal year is 14%. The information below for Judge Mark Schafer was last updated on 04/28/2023.
AVERAGE STATISTICS
| Office | *Fiscal Year | Total Depositions | Total Decisions | Total Denials | Total Awards | Cases Dismissed | Cases Approved | Cases Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALEXANDRIA | 2012 | 297 | 250 | 155 | 95 | 16% | 32% | 52% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2012 | 217 | 189 | 142 | 47 | 13% | 22% | 65% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2015 | 658 | 572 | 363 | 209 | 13% | 32% | 55% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2014 | 562 | 455 | 249 | 206 | 19% | 37% | 44% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2013 | 655 | 573 | 344 | 229 | 13% | 35% | 53% |
| ALEXANDRIA | 2011 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 33% | 24% | 43% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2016 | 477 | 362 | 222 | 140 | 24% | 29% | 47% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2017 | 524 | 432 | 271 | 161 | 18% | 31% | 52% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2018 | 164 | 132 | 88 | 44 | 20% | 27% | 54% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2019 | 445 | 385 | 262 | 123 | 13% | 28% | 59% |
| LITTLE ROCK | 2020 | 342 | 293 | 198 | 95 | 14% | 28% | 58% |
AVERAGE TIME
| Dismissed | Approved | Denied | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Schafer | No Stats for FY2020 | ||
| All ALJs in ALEXANDRIA | 16% | 41% | 43% |
| All ALJs in LOUISIANA | 17% | 43% | 39% |
| All ALJs in the Nation | 18% | 45% | 38% |
15 Comments
Would like to hear from any Reps who have had Judge Schafer. Does he usually ask for opening statement, does he question clmt first, etc. Thanks
Judge Schafer was very friendly however he disregarded my medical documentations from the paper work that my attorney had submitted on my behalf. He was very impartial to what my paper said and my condition which is really hard to understand until you have been through it yourself. He told me that I could change professions since i am young which goes against what the Vocational expert said. This is ok as long as my medical history shows what i have and i fight i will win! Just do not give up. He is one of the hardest judges if not the hardest to get approved by. Good luck to all those who go in front of him.
I did NOT receive a fair and impartial assessment of my physical and mental disabilities. ALJ Shafer wantonly and without total regard to SSA laws, rules, and regulations: (1) deliberately ignored critical medical evidence, (2) failed to properly evaluate and consider both precipitating and aggravating factors of my disability and the type, dosage and effectiveness of my medications, and (3) failed to properly assess my limitations by failing to properly theorize appropriate hypotheticals to the vocational expert on the record as a whole; therefore, ALJ Shafer could not rely on the VE’s testimony as substantial evidence in support of his denial of benefits. See Chrupcala v. Heckler, 829 F.2d 1269, 1276 (3d ir.1987); Podedworny v. Harris, 745 F.2d 210, 218 (3d Cir.1984);
ALJ Shafer has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, approval decisions in the Little Rock ODAR. There is a reason for that. He is capricious, deceitful, and obviously predisposed to denying many qualified claimants their SSA benefits. In my opinion, ALJ Shafer needs to be removed from the bench and replaced with an ALJ that will consider the facts of the whole case impartially and without bias when making a decision. Keeping ALJ Shafer as a federal judge trashes the entire SSA system by forcing claimants to appeal to the Appeals Council, which has a backlog of cases due to ALJ Shafer, and will now take 18 months or so to have a decision rendered and finally start receiving SSA disability benefits. It is ALJ Shafer that causes our government to waste millions of our tax dollars to have armed officers at SSA offices nationwide – to protect the employees who violate the people’s trust.
Maliciously,writes deceptive court results and he should be punished and fired. Its shameful all of the very unnecessary,unjust bullcrap that the real disabled are subject to due to some person of authorities opinion. I challenge each and all people of power, to step down off that high chair and get a dose of “real life”! How is it that I have one hearing with an very un organized or just plain dumb! Judge Knowles, whose decision on my case was so screwed, they had to allow a remand. Cause, I know after listening to him briefly, that he wasnt gone to be fair. Why do I, the dISABLED cONSUMER hAVE TO BE PUNISHED OR UNFAIRED JUDGED? I DIDNT ASK FOR THIS. BUT IM GOING TO FIGHT IT TO THE DEPTHS OF PURE D ****!!!
I found judge Schafer to be very fair. You had better be well prepared, and able to answer many questions that he will ask of you. He allowed me to answer every question that he asked of me, and I had all the time I needed to do so. Although I did think he was asking me questions he thought would trip me up. In all honesty I found him very open minded and very fair.
I found Judge Schafer to be a No nonsense sincere steward of the people’s money. He ask some pertinent questions and allowed me to answer without interruption. He was well aware of what was in my case file and often made reference to statements that were made my myself or my doctors. He may come off as a hard case because most people aren’t use to hearing the truth. I appreciated his direct no nonsense approach. He is a lawyer’s nightmare if he’s not prepared to represent his client.
Have had one hearing with this ALJ. Award rate is obviously on the conservative side. Has rep do initial questioning. He likes to focus on anything he sees as inconsistent such as recreational activities. He had a pleasant demeanor, but didn’t seem all that familiar with the file. Based hypo only on DDS opinion and ignored both the treating Dr’s RFC and the opinion of the MED CE.
I feel the same way you do, Judge Shafer was reading a case log which didn’t even belong to me, he was getting all the wrong information. I too was told there were no jobs I could do as stated by the VE, when given a hypothetical scenario there was nothing available. It makes me angry to know that the system would approve people for disability who go from day to day with no physical impairments and individuals who profess to be mental get approved and control their own monies. God knows what is best and he has the last word, Faith the size of a mustard seed works everytime. Therefore sit back and allow God to work.
Do not go to this judge, he will lie about every thing you say to him, he will not consider your doctors evidence he will only listen to what he has to say,i dont even know why he is a judge if he cant judge his own mind. In my case he made statements that were untrue, and lied about statements i made, i laughed at his denial because i knew i would win at the next level, it was like he thinking about someone elses case while he was working on mine. for ex, he said the ve, said i could work two jobs when incase the the ve said there was no jobs i could work. Thats ok, i will still get it.