Phillip C LymanOdar Office, Administrative Law Judge
For the 2010 *fiscal year, Judge Phillip C Lyman has disposed 536 cases at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) in SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. Out of those 536 dispostions, 68 were dismissed, 418 were approved and 50 were denied. This means that the percentage of depositions that Judge Phillip C Lyman has approved in SAN JOSE for the 2010 fiscal year is 23%. The information below for Judge Phillip C Lyman 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN JOSE | 2010 | 536 | 468 | 50 | 418 | 13% | 78% | 9% |
| SAN JOSE | 2012 | 581 | 492 | 114 | 378 | 15% | 65% | 20% |
| SAN JOSE | 2015 | 427 | 343 | 139 | 204 | 20% | 48% | 33% |
| SAN JOSE | 2014 | 442 | 364 | 105 | 259 | 18% | 59% | 24% |
| SAN JOSE | 2013 | 503 | 399 | 144 | 255 | 21% | 51% | 29% |
| SAN JOSE | 2011 | 562 | 490 | 70 | 420 | 13% | 75% | 12% |
| SAN JOSE | 2016 | 324 | 255 | 103 | 152 | 21% | 47% | 32% |
| SAN JOSE | 2017 | 326 | 271 | 67 | 204 | 17% | 63% | 21% |
| SAN JOSE | 2018 | 134 | 110 | 30 | 80 | 18% | 60% | 22% |
| SAN JOSE | 2019 | 313 | 236 | 44 | 192 | 25% | 61% | 14% |
| SAN JOSE | 2020 | 206 | 159 | 20 | 139 | 23% | 67% | 10% |
AVERAGE TIME
| Dismissed | Approved | Denied | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillip C Lyman | No Stats for FY2020 | ||
| All ALJs in SAN JOSE | 18% | 50% | 32% |
| All ALJs in CALIFORNIA | 19% | 45% | 35% |
| All ALJs in the Nation | 18% | 45% | 38% |
11 Comments
PHILLIP C LYMAN is a very particular person. I understand he has routines and people have a hard time knowing them ahead of time. He seemed to have contempt for my representation but seemed compassionate to my problems. He listened to the evidence presented; some favorable and some unfavorable. He gave a bench decision for favorable, but I haven’t received a written decision yet.
The process is stressful, and it is hard to manage the weight of this burden on top of other issues going on in your life. He seems to be able to fish out the evidence he needs of impairment. Once met, he is a decider.
I thank him, he has given me a hope that I cannot describe.
I don’t even know where to start with this guy. I’ve had many hearings with this degenerate, and he is as stupid as he is nasty. To the person who said his/her attorney was a disaster, Lyman will do everything he can to make it look like your attorney is a disaster. He hates attorneys. At one hearing he went on a diatribe and lectured me because I could not recall a certain grid rule. Then, it turned out, he didn’t know it either. I don’t take San Jose cases just to avoid him, but now he is also helping out with the Fresno caseload and I’ve had him in Fresno twice in the past month. Today he allowed an ME to talk directly to my client (not ask questions) and I objected. Big mistake. Berated again. I could go on. . . .
I must say I took a like to judge Lyman he reminds me of my dad he’s all about helping a long as your honest .
I had to fax over three papers he requested,my laywer was an absolute disaster.he didnt even know my case at all..he felt like a probation officer,mr lyman saw this layer was doing me a great disservice and postponed my hearing.I havent gone back to see mr lyman but I can see he IS A FAIR judge and wants to help people like me….
Judge Lyman is an ornery old man who is bitter about his job and likes to take it out of other people. He wastes time giving his little lectures about being prepared and not having all the medical records. Then when you ask for additional time to hold records open he wants you to tell him what is in them, like I am a freakin’ psychic! He also won’t let you question your client without a reference to the medical records, and will then lecture you about wasting time questioning the claimant. He even is rude to the MEs and the recorders. I dread appearing in front of this Judge and feel bad for my clients who have to deal with his badgering. He needs to change fields….maybe he can work as airport security or at the DMV, he’d fit in well there.
I must say I got a chuckle out of the above comments because going before this Judge was a surreal experience he was so nasty and rude. I have been practicing law for 15 years and this guy is the most unprofessional judge I have ever seen. He also gave me a condescending lecture because I did not fax evidence to the medical expert ahead of time even though the rules don’t require it and his own Notice of Hearing states that evidence can be brought to the hearing and not even faxed ahead of time at all. He also lectured the attorney in the hearing before me for not being able to read his mind and not faxing the evidence to the ME before the hearing. I actually kind of feel sorry for the guy because he was so angry.
Easily the worst ALJ I have ever gone before. I have gone before him twice, on both occasions he began the hearing by delivering a condescending half-hour lecture on the importance of having a complete record — this was after I had informed him that treatment records from only a month earlier had been ordered but not yet received by my office.
He held both hearings up for HOURS by delivering petty lectures about irrelevant details, often going back to issues he had already addressed and badgering my clients with belligerent questions.
He always calls a medical expert — to my mind, the mark of a lazy judge who does not want to make his own analysis of the evidence. In my first case with him, I had just received records days before and had submitted them to the efile when they were received. Lyman adjourned the hearing and refused to take even basic testimony from my client. He then lectured about how his office requires that the attorney must submit all records received within 7 days of the hearing DIRECTLY to the medical expert — the ODAR will not do it, despite the fact that the ME is his witness.
In any case, expect to spoon-feed him the record, because he won’t be familiar with it. He seems to have a bizarre understanding of the disability framework, also: he heavily implied in one of our hearings that he did not believe it possible for a combination of impairments to render a claimant disabled.
I cannot think of a single good thing to say about this ALJ. He is a walking waste of taxpayer money.
One of the nastiest ALJs I have ever had the misfortune to meet. He is horribly disorganized; his hearings ALWAYS begin HOURS behind schedule, probably because he so enjoys wasting time playing mind-games and reaming clients and attys over irrelevancies.
He was extremely rude to my client who was struggling with dual life-threatening diagnoses/illnesses. He then denied his claim.
Case merits aside, a person who cannot manage to behave with a modicum of decency toward obviously gravely ill claimants lacks the basic humanity to sit in judgement of others.
Worst ALJ I have ever appeared before. He will intentionally berate the rep, me & VE. I know several VE that will not even agree to testify in his hearings. On the record he stated that fibro was a mental health condition. He will not question claimant or really allow rep to question. I was in 2 different hearings with him this week and the medical expert testified to meeting listing…oh no… Not this judge, he challenged the me. FYI judge, your not a Dr…hence the ME!! Ugh, not 1 positive thing to say. I do love an ALJ ,that is clearly ,obease, to sit and ridicule my client, whom is much thinner, about how they should lose weight and their DDD will magically disappear….pass on this guy!
Although, I do not know the outcome of my hearing just yet, I must say this Judge very fair. Sweet, seemed to care.