Social Security disability attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means that you cannot be charged a fee unless you are approved with past due benefits or back payments. If you are not approved the attorney's fee is $0. He/she has worked on your case for up to 2 years for free.
The amount of an attorney's fee is set by the Social Security Administration. The fee is the lesser of 25 percent of your back pay OR $7,200. The smaller of these amounts will be the fee that Social Security will approve. (Note: On 11/30/24 Social Security will increase the maximum attorney fee to $9,200 but it will still be based on 25 percent).
If you are awarded past due benefits Social Security will send a check to your attorney to pay the legal fee. This comes out of your back pay.
For any claim won at the hearing level or before the fee is limited to 25 percent of back pay or $7,200, whichever is smaller.
However, the legal fee may never be more than $7,200. For example......
If your back pay is $10,000 the attorney fee will be 25 percent ($2,500).
If your back pay is $100,000 the attorney fee will max out at $7,200.
Again, if you do not get approved for past due benefits (no back pay), your attorney's fee will be zero.
Generally attorneys cannot charge any upfront fees or "consultation fees." The claimant only accepts a fee at the end of a successful case and the fee is approved and paid by the Social Security Administration based on the guidelines given above.
Obviously, your representative is highly motivated to win your case. No one likes to work for free.
The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville never asks a client for money. We don't expect to be paid unless we are successful and you are awarded cash benefits. When that happens, Social Security will pay our fee out of the past due award and write us a check.
If you need help with a difficult Social Security disability claim, please contact us at (256) 799-0297. There is no obligation for calling us and no pressure.
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