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WHY GET AN ATTORNEY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY?

While you are not required to have a lawyer or representative by Social Security, having one gives you many advantages.  

A 2017 study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that claimants with a professional representative are almost 3 times as likely to get benefits.  

An attorney/representative can review your application to prevent errors that can cause a denial or a delay.  

Your representative may help gather important medical evidence to support your claim and increase the odds of early approval.

Since three-fourths of new claims are denied, your attorney/representative can help you through the appeal process, which requires a knowledge of Social Security's rules, regulations and procedures.

If you must go before a judge for a hearing (most claimants do)--your representative can prepare you for your hearing, prepare evidence suitable for the judge--and appear with you at your hearing as your legal representation.  The judge will usually advise you to obtain a representative and come back for your hearing with your legal representative.

A 2017 study by the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that claimants who have professional representation are almost 3X as likely to be approved, compared to claimants without representation.  Not having representation simply reduces your chance of success to below the acceptable level of risk.

On final advantage of representation is that it can save you hundreds of hours of work and much anxiety.  Your attorney will chase the evidence, mediate with Social Security, meet deadlines--a hundred details that you won't have to be responsible for.  

Attorneys or representatives are required to work on a contingency fee arrangement.  This means they cannot charge you a fee unless rcase is successful AND results in payment of past due benefits.  The Social Security Administration governs how much your representative can charge you, and when. Social Security must approve any attorney's fee before it can be collected from you.

In conclusion, you don't seek representation because you have to; you seek it because it is advantageous to you. 

___________

Charles W. Forsythe is founder of The Forsythe Firm located in Huntsville, AL and Nashville, TN.  He handles nothing but Social Security disability (SSDI) claims and appeals.  Free consultations are available at (256) 799-0297.


 

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