· The SSA allows you to bring a witness to testify about your disability, but because witnesses can be harmful or helpful, your attorney will decide if witness testimony is necessary to win your case. Your lawyer may be interested in asking your caregivers or former employers to write letters in support of your disability.
In preparing to represent you in a disability appeal hearing, your attorney will want you to answer some detailed questions about your symptoms and limitations. In addition, your attorney needs an abundance of medical evidence to support your allegations. What Medical Evidence Is Most Important to Win My Case?
 · One of the most common questions for SSD lawyers is: How much will you charge to handle my case? Disability claims are handled on a contingency fee basis, which means the attorney is only paid if you are awarded benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA), which administers the SSD program, establishes the fees disability lawyers may collect. So, …
 · When a potential disability client contacts a Social Security disability law firm, a paralegal or assistant will usually do an "intake" interview with you, often by phone. The assistant will ask you questions about your age, your medical condition, how often you see your doctors, whether you've been hospitalized for your condition, and whether you are working.
How to Answer Disability QuestionnairesWrite clearly and legibly. Avoid erasures as much as possible. ... Do not leave any section of the form blank (unless otherwise specified). ... Give consistent answers. ... Answer the questions truthfully. ... Follow the instructions on the form.
The following five statements should never be announced at your disability hearing.“I can't work because no one will hire me.” ... “I don't know why I'm here. ... “I don't do chores because my significant other, friend or family member does them.” ... “I have never used drugs or alcohol in my life.”More items...•
Dates you last worked; The names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of visits to your doctors; The names of medications that you take and medical tests you've had; and. Marital information.
We'll evaluate all evidence about your condition. If you have more than one disabling condition, we'll consider the combined effect of all your impairments on your ability to work. The frequency of reviews depends on the nature and severity of your medical condition and whether it's expected to improve.
Tips to Improve Your Chances of Getting Disability BenefitsFile Your Claim as Soon as Possible. ... Make an Appeal within 60 Days. ... Provide Full Details of Medical Treatment. ... Provide Proof of Recent Treatment. ... Report your Symptoms Accurately. ... Provide Medical Evidence. ... Provide Details of your Work History.More items...•
OklahomaOklahoma is the hardest state to get for Social Security disability. This state has an SSDI approval rate of only 33.4% in 2020 and also had the worst approval rate in 2019 with 34.6% of SSDI applications approved. Alaska had the second-worst approval rate, with 35.3% of applications approved in 2020 and 36.2% in 2019.
They may ask questions such as marital status, number of children, who you live with in your home and any history of military service. The SSA may also request the social security numbers of these immediate family members, in addition to their contact information in case they can't reach you.
When answering an ALJ's questions, we recommend to our clients that they:Stay on subject and don't ramble.Be honest.Be prepared to explain any discrepancies that may be in their record.Don't be embarrassed or offended by the judge's questions.Be specific about their symptoms, treatment and limitations.More items...•
Unlike private insurance companies the SSA does not generally conduct surveillance investigations, but that doesn't mean that they can't or never will. Once you file a disability claim, the SSA looks for proof of your disability.
Disability is determined by five criteria, many of which are medical. The individual must not earn more than $1,000 a month in wages [5]. The health condition must be “severe” and must interfere with “basic work-related activities” [5]. must also be unable to adjust to other types of work [6].
Step 3: A medical screen to allow applicants who are the most severely disabled. Medical evidence on an applicant's impairment is assessed under step 3 using codified clinical criteria called the Listing of Impairments, which includes over 100 impairments.
Interview preparation tipsResearch the disability support worker job description and the organisation you are interviewing with.Be neat and dress professionally.Arrive at the interview venue at least 15 minutes early to have time to prepare and gather your thoughts.More items...
When seeking a job, there's no obligation for you to tell them about your disability, but you should bear in mind the following: It's unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you in the hiring process for having a disability.
Consider taking charge during the first interview to talk about your disability and how you would handle any impact on the job. You may want to describe any accommodation you use, how it helps your performance, or demonstrate how you would perform difficult functions.
It Instantly Connects You With People in the Room Avoid getting lumped in with the rest of the candidates by forming a connection early. Addressing your disability demonstrates your honesty, something which few interviewers will frown upon.
When you first contact an attorney for representation, either the attorney or a firm staff member will conduct an initial interview with you to gat...
Your attorney, or a staff member in the law firm, will request the medical records needed to win your claim and submit them to the Social Security...
It is not unusual for attorneys to wait until a month or two before a disability hearing to first speak to a client. Up to that point, your only co...
The SSA allows you to bring a witness to testify about your disability, but because witnesses can be harmful or helpful, your attorney will decide...
Your disability lawyer will determine the best way to win your case. First, your lawyer will review your denial letter from Social Security to get...
The most important evidence you need to substantiate your claim for disability benefits is the opinion prepared by your treating doctor (s).
Your lawyer will want to make sure that Social Security gives the opinions of your doctors as much weight as possible. To do this, your lawyer will want to:
The short answer to this is no. When preparing for a disability hearing, an attorney will frequently receive hundreds of pages of medical records, many of which have nothing to do with your impairment. Your attorney will review the medical records to see what is relevant to your case and submit only that information to Social Security.
It is not uncommon for medical records to contain information that is not only unhelpful but may be harmful to a disability applicant's case. Social Security regulations and ethics rules require a disability attorney to submit all relevant evidence to Social Security.
If Social Security agrees that your medical condition doesn't allow you to do heavy or medium work, but thinks you can do sedentary work, you'll need to provide you can't even do sedentary work (in other words, a sit down job).
A good disability lawyer will develop the best theory of disability for winning your case, prepare you for your hearing, and arrange for witnesses. Hearing approval rates are about twice as high for applicants who bring lawyers.
One of the most common questions for SSD lawyers is: How much will you charge to handle my case?
You wouldn’t visit an eye doctor for a toothache, would you? Of course not. Both are medical professionals, but they deal with different parts of the body and therefore have vastly different experience levels.
If your disability application is denied, there are four levels of appeal: reconsideration, administrative hearing, appeals council, and Federal District Court. Some disability attorneys handle appeals at every level; others will not.
If the SSA denies your disability claim at both the initial application and reconsideration levels, your next step is to request an administrative hearing. Administrative hearings allow you to explain to the judge more about your disability and its impact on your ability to work.
Applying for SSD benefits involves a lot of waiting. There’s waiting for the SSA to review your claim. There’s waiting for an administrative hearing date (in Illinois, the average wait time is 14.9 months). There’s waiting to receive a decision on your claim.
Sometimes the disability attorney you meet with during the initial consultation isn’t the attorney who will ultimately handle your case. Although this is a common practice, it can be unsettling for some people, particularly if you hired an attorney based on how comfortable you felt with them during the initial consultation.
When a potential disability client contacts a Social Security disability law firm, a paralegal or assistant will usually do an "intake" interview with you, often by phone. The assistant will ask you questions about your age, your medical condition, how often you see your doctors, whether you've been hospitalized for your condition, and whether you are working. The law firm will then decide whether it's in their financial interest to take your case. Established law firms (as opposed to young solo lawyers just starting out) generally only take cases on which they have a solid chance of making an ample fee.
Because medical records are complicated, and a lawyer isn't always in the best position to assess whether Social Security is likely to grant a medical allowance for a complex medical condition, lawyers often focus on other factors when deciding to take a case.
Here are some of the factors lawyers consider when they decide to take a case. Some of the factors, such as age or medical condition, you can't change, but with other factors, you might be able to take actions to make your case more attractive to a disability attorney.
You might ask the attorney or paralegal you spoke to for details on why they don't think you have a good case. If it has to do with your medical records, recent work, substance use, or receipt of unemployment benefits, you can address these issues before continuing with your claim.
If you aren't currently seeing a doctor, and don't have a history over the past several years of seeing a doctor, you'll have a harder time finding a lawyer to take your case. Good medical records are probably the most important factor in getting an approval for benefits, and this is especially true for mental claims. If you aren't currently seeing a doctor or psychologist, start now, and try again to find a lawyer.
Some disability lawyers won't take your case until you've been denied benefits. They'd rather not help out at the application stage, but they'd be more than willing to represent you at the appeal hearing.
Having what appears to be a severe medical condition will obviously help convince a lawyer to take your case, but there are certain conditions that some lawyers don't like to see in your medical file. Fibromyalgia is one of them. Historically it's been difficult to get benefits for fibromyalgia, though it's gotten easier since Social Security published a ruling on the subject. Also, applying for fibromyalgia along with similar conditions, especially a lesser known condition like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, may signal to Social Security that you still haven't received the proper diagnosis.
It is important to understand whether or not the individual you hire has experience working with your type of claim. It can definitely be a hindrance to your case if the lawyer you hire doesn’t have the knowledge and has to do the homework before they even get started.
Understanding who you are hiring and what that fully entails are key factors you need to evaluate when deciding how to move forward with your claim. These 12 questions to ask a disability lawyer are important; however, they are just a suggested list.
What if you have done all the right things to get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)? You have completed the SSDI application, you have answered on the SSA questions and you have hired a disability lawyer. Things were looking great for your case, but suddenly, without an explanation, your disability lawyer dropped your case.
If your disability lawyer has told you they are dropping you as a client they should provide you with information about the reason.
The good news if you are waiting for a hearing it can take up to 12 months to get on the hearing schedule. This should be more than enough time to start interviewing disability lawyers and find the perfect lawyer to argue your case before the administrative law judge.