Clearing a backlog without breaching statutory clocks
A backlog run-down has a cruel failure mode: while everyone works the old cases, the new ones quietly breach. The way out is to stop choosing between the backlog and the front door — and let agents hold both.
Triage the whole queue in a day
Agents read every open case and classify it: complete and decidable, waiting on evidence, or genuinely complex. Most teams discover a third of their "backlog" was decidable the whole time — it was just unread.
Oldest first, clocks always
Work the backlog oldest-first, but let statutory clocks override: any case within escalation distance of its deadline jumps the queue automatically. No spreadsheet, no Friday panic list.
Report progress from the record
Because every case movement is logged, the run-down reports itself — cases cleared, clocks met, evidence outstanding — weekly, from live data. Leadership stops asking for updates because they can see them.