DISABILITY SURVIVAL GUIDE: NORTH ALABAMA EDITION

There is a lot of talk and speculation about Social Security in the new Trump Administration.  The acting commissioner of Social Security recently resigned and Lee Dudek has been appointed the new Acting Director. Today (2/18/2025) I received a message from the new Acting Commissioner Dudek.  Here is part of Director Dudek's message on Social Security for 2025:   Our continuing priority is paying beneficiaries the right amount at the right time, and providing other critical services people rely on from us. DOGE personnel CANNOT make changes to agency systems, benefit payments, or other information. They only have READ access. DOGE personnel do not have access to data related to a court ordered temporary restraining order, current or future. DOGE personnel must follow the law and if they violate the law they will be referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.                      ...

  When you apply for Social Security disability in Alabama you need to have a "severe impairment" that significantly interferes with your ability to work. Under Social Security regulations, a condition is considered "severe" if it poses a significant restriction on the ability to perform full-time, remunerative work. Full-time work means the ability to work on a "regular and continuous basis," meaning 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, or an equivalent schedule. In addition to being "severe," your impairment must meet one of the following requirements:L 1.  Has lasted at least 12 consecutive (straight) months, OR 2.  Is medically expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, OR 3.  Is expected to end in death. You DO NOT have to wait 12 months from the onset of the impairment to file for disability.  But the nature of the impairment must be such that it will meet one of the 3 requirements above. There is no temporary or short term disability wi...

Do you need a lawyer at your Social Security disability hearing?  Let me tell you why you do (though you are not required to have one): 1    By the time you get to a hearing your case has already been denied TWICE:  once at the application level, again at Reconsideration.  This is your third and best chance.  2   Social Security will have its own experts at the hearing:  a vocational expert and an Administrative Law Judge.  They may also bring in a doctor or "medical expert" to testify.  You should not be the only non-expert in the room. What a disadvantage. 3.  The odds are stacked against you most of the time.  On average, fewer than 50 percent of claimants will prevail at a hearing.  Government studies show that claimants with lawyers are 3X more likely to be approved than those who are not represented. (Source:  Government  Accountability Office Study, 2017). 4.  A knowledge of Social Security law and...

  In Alabama and Tennessee slightly less than 30 percent of Social Security disability claims are approved at the first try--the application level. The other 70 percent get denial letters. Many of those denial letters will state something like this: "We realize that you cannot perform any of your past work. However, there is other work that you can do." Social Security must first determine whether an applicant can perform any of his or her past relevant wok. This refers to full-time work performed within the 5 years previous to becoming disabled. They look at work experience for the past 5 years. If they conclude that you cannot do any of your past work, they must determine another question: "Is there any other work that he/she can do, based on his or her residual functional capacity, age, education and work experience?" If there is "other work," then the claimant will be found NOT DISABLED and denied. Many of my clients find that humo...

WHY SOME DOCTORS WON'T HELP YOU WITH A DISABILITY CLAIM You have applied for Social Security disability.  Your attorney wants to get a form completed by your doctor detailing your restrictions and limitations in the ability to perform certain work-like activities.  Your doctor says, "We don't fill out those forms," or "we don't like to get involved." Why do so many doctors take this unhelpful approach with their patients? REASON 1:  Doctors don't understand how important their input is to Social Security.  They often assume that supplying their routine medical records is all that is needed.  It isn't, because medical records say nothing about the patient's ability to lift, sit, stand, bend, reach, push, pull or walk--the functional abilities or restrictions that determine how claims are decided. REASON 2:  Doctors often think that the form requested will require a long, complicated or special examination.  This is n...

Social Security hearings are held by US Administrative Law Judges (ALJs).  The judge will question the claimant extensively to find facts about the alleged impairments and activities.  The first rule is to be honest with the judge. The second rule is to be consistent.  Don't say, "I can only sit for about 30 minutes," and later say, "I play video games for hours each day."   SOME THINGS NOT TO SAY AT YOUR DISABILITY HEARING  I've looked for work but nobody will hire me.  I am a liability for employers.  Any family members getting disability benefits or unemployment  Any details about a past criminal history (unless asked).  Your drug or alcohol problems - unless you are asked  Lack of medical treatment or non-compliance with treatment  Reasons for not working that are not related to a physical and/or mental impairment... Examples: Lack of transportation Caring for a sick child or family member No job market in your town for the kind...

Can you sue the Social Security Administration? Yes but only under certain conditions. A lawsuit against Social Security is difficult because of a doctrine known as sovereign immunity.  It protects federal and state bodies from lawsuits that they don't agree to. In the case of the Social Security Administration, you must exhaust all administrative appeals before you can file a lawsuit. In a Social Security dispute, here are the available administrative actions: 1.   Reconsideration.  You file an appeal and ask Social Security to reconsider their decision.  You may submit additional evidence. 2.   Administrative Hearing.  You will take your case before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for a hearing. Your lawyer may represent you. 3.   Appeals Council.   The final administrative review is before the appeals council.  This is a group of judges in Falls Church, Virginia that reviews administrative law judge's decisions to decide whether they wer...

When you apply for Social Security disability benefits--or file an appeal--you may be sent for a consultative examination (CE).  This is an exam by a doctor hired and paid for by Social Security. You should be honest and forthright with this doctor.  However, do not expect this doctor to be invested in your case or to try to help you.  Most likely the exam will be a cookie cutter exam that most other claimanbts get. Here are some things  NOT to say at a consultative exam (CE):  "I am doing OK....just fine...doing pretty good."   Even if you say this casually it may come back to hurt you.  In his report, the doctor may begin by writing:  "The patient told me he was doing fine."  While you probably did not mean that literally, the doctor can take it that way and I've seen it repeated on dozens of medical exam reports.  Says he's just fine!   Told me was doing great!   "I am not having any pain." You may not be in pain at the mom...

No.  Getting a new attorney will NOT delay your pending Social Security disability claim or appeal.  Your new attorney "inherits" the case and picks up where the other attorney left off.  There is no re-filing or starting over, so your case is not set back or delayed at all.  Social Security maintains an electronic folder stored in its system.  This folder contains every document ever submitted concerning your claim or appeal.  Your new lawyer may log into your electronic files and see, in real time, all the evidence and other documents in your file. While we do not recommend changing attorneys while your case is pending a decision, it is sometimes necessary.  You may need a new lawyer if your attorney dies, retires or  becomes disabled before your case is settled.  You may choose a new attorney without delaying or causing any set back to your case. If you are considering obtaining a lawyer to handle your Social Security disability case in Hu...