When a case is docketed before the Office of Administrative Law Judges, a case number is
assigned. The number will appear on documents you receive from this office.
It looks something like this: 1999-BLA-998 or 1998-INA-795 or 1987-DBA-250, etc. The first
four numbers represent the Fiscal Year in which the case was docketed. The three letters inside
the hyphens are an indicator of the case type. For example, the samples above would be Black
Lung Benefits Act, Immigration and Nationality Act, and Davis-Bacon Act cases respectively.
The final numbers represent the sequential number of the case in that fiscal year. For example,
1999-BLA-998 would be the 998th black lung case docketed in Fiscal Year 1999.
If you have lost the case number, you may contact the presiding judge's office or the Docket
section in Washington, and they will look up the number. Contact
Information.
Please note that other agencies and Boards within the Department may use different case
numbers.
