Skip to main content

WHEN YOU GET A TOUGH JUDGE IN YOUR SSDI CASE

What can you do when you get a

tough Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in your SSDI hearing?

Let's face it.  All judges are not created equal.

In the same hearing office, award rates may vary by 20 to 30 percentage points among the judges. You may walk into one hearing room and sit before a judge who pays 65 percent of her claims.  But walk into a different hearing room, in the same building, and sit before a judge who only pays 20 percent of his claims.

Since you can't choose your judge, how can you deal with a tough judge?

1.  Prepare Well.  Inundate the judge with objective medical and vocational evidence that can't be reasonably denied. Prove your case!

2.  Don't stop with just medical records.  Get one or more of your treating doctors to provide a detailed Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) form.

One judge with whom I am familiar will take one (or both) of the following approaches on a functional capacity form:

A.  Judge:  Were you present when the doctor filled out this form?  Claimant:  No.  Judge:  Then how does he know what your restrictions are?

B.  Were you present when the doctor filled out this form?  Claimant:  Yes, I was.  Judge:  Did he ask you how much can lift, or long you can stand, etc.?  If he did, then these are YOUR opinions, not your doctor's opinions.

3.  Know the rules and regulations of the Social Security
Administration.  All judges are bound by these regulations.

 4.  Be sure you have adequate legal representation at your hearing. This is probably your only way to be well prepared or to know the rules and regulations. 

A 2017 study by the US government (GAO) found that 60 percent of represented claimants are approved, but only 30 percent of unrepresented claimants get approved.

______

Contact The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville for a free consultation.  You will never pay us a fee unless you win your case and collect past due benefits.  Call (256) 799-0297.

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAN YOU WIN YOUR DISABILITY APPEAL WITHOUT A LAWYER?

The Social Security Administration does not require you to have a lawyer to file an appeal or to appear at a hearing.  However, most people heading for a disability hearing will hire a lawyer or advocate to help them.   Studies have shown that you are about twice as likely to win with a lawyer.  A recent study found that claimants with no lawyer win about 30 percent of the time while claimants with a lawyer or advocate win 60 percent of the time.   " He just cooked his own goose." These statistics cover only one aspect of a disability appear--your odds of winning. The other important aspects are time and convenience. If you prepare and adjudicate your own disability appeal, expect to spend 12 to 24 months working on the case.  You will be collecting, reading and submitting hundreds or thousands of pages of medical records.  These records are complex and often difficult to understand.  And you must know how each medical record helps (or hurts) your dis...
Post a Comment
Read more

GET YOUR APPLICATION RIGHT - GET PAID SSDI B ENEFITS

  Get your Social Security application right - get paid.   There are hundreds of ways to mess up a Social Security disability application.  One of the most common ways that I see?  Blank lines.  Questions left blank.  One way or another, these questions will get answered before a decision is made on your claim.  They may get answered 6 months later when the Social Security office calls you--but you have just wasted 6 months.   Worse yet, Social Security may assume that since you didn't answer the questions, all the answers are "no," so nobody bothers to call you. This will lead to a negative action on your claim.   The complete disability application will consist, not just of the basic application, but several forms.  Many of those forms will be mailed to you AFTER you file the claim.  The following is always required for a complete application: The basic disability application (5 pages)  Disability Report (14 p...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW TO PASS A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY EXAM

  So, Social Security is sending you to one of their doctors for an exam.  The first thing you may ask is, How do I pass this exam?   First, I should say that Social Security exams are not "pass or fail."  The doctor or examiner cannot tell Social Security whether or not you are disabled or whether you should get a benefit.  The doctor is going to check certain facts. For example, the doctor may check the range of motion in your joints and list the measurements. They may check your grip strength. (S)he may determine if you have difficulty walking, squatting, kneeling standing from a seated position.  The examiner may answer specific questions asked by Social Security: Is the use of a cane or assistive device medically necessary? Why is it necessary? Can the claimant use his/her hands to grasp and hold objects? Is the claimant able to understand and follow simple directions?  Here is advice I give my clients for a Social Security examination:  ...
Post a Comment
Read more