Skip to main content

HOW CAN A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAWYER HELP YOU?

What type of lawyer can help you with Social Security disability?

 Social Security Disability lawyers have the experience, knowledge, and resources to help ensure that your application is accurate and to advocate for your rights every step of the way--from application through appeals.

Here are a few things a disability lawyer  can do for you:

  • Answer objections Social Security makes about your case.
  • Write documents to decision makers stating your case strongly.
  • Obtain special evidence from doctors, beyond the usual medical records. 
  • Prepare you and your case for a hearing before a judge when necessary.
  • Attend the hearing with you to safeguard your rights and assist you.
  • Make sure that you get all the past due benefits (back pay) you deserve.

 How To Choose A Disability Lawyer or Advocate

  1. Choose one who specializes in Social Security disability; it's a very specialized area of law. Experience counts a lot.
  2. Look for a lawyer/advocate who has a history of winning cases.
  3. Read the lawyer's reviews posted by other clients. While probably no one has a perfect rating, choose one as well rated as you can find.
  4. Get a local lawyer in your community that you can visit before you hire.
  5. Look for one with the personality, availability and commitment you want to work with. Will (s)he talk to you?  Return phone calls?

 HOW MUCH CAN MY LAWYER CHARGE?

Legal fees are set by Social Security and must be approved by the SSA in advance.  Your lawyer cannot charge you a fee until the Social Security Administration authorizes it and decides the amount of the fee.

You may not be charged a fee until your claim is decided in your favor AND you are awarded past due benefits (also called back pay).

Currently, a lawyer may charge no more than 25 percent of your back pay, up to a dollar amount (cap) set by Social Security each year.

Does Having a Lawyer Help My Chances of Getting Benefits?

Yes.  A study by the US Government (US Government Accountability Office, or GAO) - finds you are about 3 times more likely to be awarded disability benefits when you are represented by a lawyer or a non-lawyer representative who is eligible for direct payment of fees.  These professionals have passed the rigid requirements set forth by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to represent claimants and provide credible representation in Social Security claims.

The same GAO study found that only 31 percent of claimants who do not have professional representation are awarded benefits.

 

How to Get Social Security Disability 

__

Provided as information by:  The Forsythe Firm, Huntsville, AL 35806.  Phone (256) 799-0297.  Email:  ForsytheFirm@gmail.com     Free consultations!

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IS IT HARD TO GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY IN TENNESSEE?

  How hard is it to get Social Security disability (SSDI) in Tennessee? It can be very difficult.  In the beginning stages of the process, it seems like the agency is out to deny as many claims as possible.  Later--in the appeals process--it takes more technical and legal skill to move through the labyrinth of obstacles. What's the usual reason for an SSDI denial? If you look at all the denial letters, the most comm on reason given is:  You are not disabled according to our rules. The 2 main explanation for finding claimants not disabled are: 1.  You are able to perform some of your past relevant work. 2.  You can't perform any of your past work but you are able to do other work. Those are the two "catch all" reasons Social Security gives for nearly all of their denials.  Both of these reasons fall into the category of a medical denial .  The claimant's condition is not deemed severe enough to prevent all work. There are other reasons for d...
Post a Comment
Read more

WHAT YOU WILL BE ASKED AT A DISABILITY HEARING

Most Social Security disability claims will be denied twice:  First at the end of the Application process, and again after the "Reconsideration" process.  The third stop will be a hearing before a federal Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). It is here at the hearing level that most SSDI claims are paid.  So, what do you need to know about your Social Security disability hearing?     First, the judge will follow the rules established by the Social Security Administration.  His or her job is to determine whether you meet the particular laws and rules to receive disability payments.  So, it is a legal proceeding where you must prove certain things in order to get paid. Among the things you must prove:  Your insured status with Social Security:  You have worked recently enough and paid into the Social Security trust fund to gain the required "work credits" to support your claim.  You have a severe medical or mental impairment supported by adequa...
Post a Comment
Read more

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