Social Security Disability attorneys

In My Humble Opinion
1

We need to hire an attorney to persuade Social Security to grant disability benefits to someone who’s unable to work due to a heart attack, multiple cancers and bad anemia as a result of the cancers and treatments. In their recent denial of the request for reconsideration, they seem to ignore the underlying diseases and focus on saying that fatigue and nausea are not disabling conditions as they can be treated with medication.

Unfortunately, they don’t seem to realize that anti-nausea meds cause fatigue, and I have no idea what treats fatigue other than amphetamines.

In general, is it better to go with one of the big national firms that advertise on daytime TV, or with a small local firm?

2

In general, it really doesn’t seem to matter much. They system dictates how much they get paid (it’s a percentage of the lump sum payment), and they all seem more-or-less capable of A) filling out the appeal and B) showing up in court while C) being a lawyer.

Those three things are what get disability appeals through. It’s a racket. The disability lawyers of today will be the disability judges of tomorrow, and they all have a vested interest in declining individual appeals while approving ones brought in by lawyers.

3

QFT. I used to work for a SS Disability attorney. One who had worked for SS processing SS Disability benefits for 25 years before he became an attorney.

4

There are a number of medical conditions that by themselves will work:
look up “Listing equals Impairment”. There’s also a basis called “Compassionate Allowance List”.

5

Here is how it basically works. First, you apply by yourself for disability. You are automatically declined. But if/when you are approved, you will be awarded back-pay for all the benefits you would have received, back to the date of your provable disability.

Then you hire an attorney, who drags his feet until at least a couple of years of back pay has accumulated. Your attorney is legally authorized to charge a fee of 30% (I think) of that amount (up to two years maximum) as his fee for filing your claim for you. Which is basically filling out the same forms you already filed yourself, and showing up for a few minutes at the appointed court date. Don’t waste your time trying to call him, he won’t take nor return your call.

With your lawyer’s help, you may then be approved, for , say, $1,000 a month. There is $24,000 in back pay, of which your lawyer gets 30%, or $7,200. He gets that immediately. After several months of processing, you will get a lump sum for your share.

There are no doubt some variations, but this is pretty much how it worked with a friend of mine.

6

Pretty much, but you skipped the last step:

The second or third month of your expected payment, it won’t arrive, or it will be much smaller than it should be. You’ll call them and ask WTF and they’ll tell you it’s because their records show you received a large sum of money one-two months ago. You’ll point out that that was their money, that they owed you, in the form of a lump sum payment. They’ll dick around for a couple of months before it’s all sorted out.

Moral of the story: don’t immediately use that lump sum payment to pay off all the debt you’ve incurred while slogging through this process. That’s going to pay your rent in month two or three.

7

Weird. I got approved on the first try even though my disability is not as severe as some. (Smashed leg vs. being a paraplegic for example)

Possibly because I had records out the wazoo and had used up my State Disability ( 12 months) first.

ETA: And I didn’t even use a lawyer.

8

Here’s a link to the Compassionate Allowances program.

In short, diagnosis of certain serious medical conditions grant the presumption that SS disability benefits should be granted. Several cancers are on that list as is aplastic anemia.

9

Unfortunately, this pretty much conforms with a family member’s experience.

10

The attorney fee is capped, I believe, at 6,000 or 6,500. That takes the incentive to drag your feet out of it. The attorney doesn’t hold it up, anyway. It’s more a problem with the amount of time SSA takes to process the claim. It’s not unusual for the SSA to take two years to approve, or deny, a claim.

11

Ivylad’s been approved for back pay disability. We’re waiting on SSA to confirm the amount.

We confirmed the lawyer gets 25% up to $6,000.

12

…and the step where the estimated tax payment on that cumulative lump sum ends up being nowhere close to the huge surprise tax payment. Fortunately the IRS let us pay over several installments.

And the part where, after the ruling processes, your attorney won’t even deign to return a simple phone call if anything hiccups since they are no longer getting paid.

13

gotpasswords, I sympathize with your difficulties surrounding the whole SSDI issue. I don’t have time at the moment, but I will try to address some of your concerns as soon as I can. I live in the SF Bay Area and I may have some useful advice about finding a good attorney in San Francisco.

Be of good cheer—dealing with an SSDI attorney needn’t be as bad as some in this thread have described. Dealing with the Disability Determination Service Division in Sacramento is another thing, however,:eek: but that’s why you need a good attorney! :slight_smile:
ETA: Definitely go with a local firm!!!

14

I’ve seen three experiences with getting approved for disability locally (USA, Nebraska), including my own, and they were all quite different.

My experience: Started having psych issues about 3 years into my last full-time job. Ended up taking FMLA multiple times; had to get documentation from my psychiatrist every time it was more than a couple of days. When I left that job, I spent the next two-plus years looking for a job, with no luck. Why I would think I could hold down a full-time job where recent experience had shown I clearly could not, I don’t know; I think I didn’t want to feel like a slacker.

I applied online for SSDI in May 2010. I was fortunate in that I had a lot of documentation, could provide detailed answers, and had a verifiable history of problems working due to my illness. Nevertheless, I got denied in September 2010, and contacted a local lawyer. He took my case, and at the end of May 2011, I was approved. I received my first SSDI check in September I believe, and my back-payment in November.

My mom’s experience: (A little fuzzy on this because it’s been a while.) She had a series of mini-strokes that culminated in a stroke that left her with considerable weakness on her left side, and an inability to do her job (nurse’s aide). She couldn’t even put on her plastic gloves the day she went in and tried to work. :frowning:

She was assigned a social worker through the Salvation Army, who helped her through the process, gathering all the documentation, talking to the doctors, etc. In the meantime, my mom moved in with me (and stayed). Finances were tight, but we didn’t have to wait long - within 3-4 months my mom was on SSDI.

My friend’s husband’s experience: He had a history of back problems, but not always the most thorough documentation. After a period of being out-of-work, their house went into foreclosure, and he attempted suicide. Come to find out, he’d been mentally ill for a while too (and not just as a reaction to being unemployed). Since that wasn’t something that had even been on his radar, at that point he had zero documentation for that.

First time he applied for SSDI, he got rejected. He may have applied a second time, got rejected. The third time, I believe, he got a lawyer, and was finally approved. It took him at least 2 to 3 years from initial application to approval.

Most people who have worked a significant portion of their lives will make $1,000-$1,300 a month on SSDI. My mom makes on the low end (she was stuck at a minimum-wage job for years), and I make on the high end (Bachelor’s Degree, office/admin work). Alone, we wouldn’t be able to comfortably make it. Together, we can afford the phone, basic internet, utilities, a cat, and an apartment in a slightly-sketchy neighborhood that’s beginning to gentrify. There’s stuff I miss (seemingly all my friends have smartphones, and/or iPad like devices, and go out to eat pretty often) but we get along okay. :slight_smile:

Best wishes and good luck!

15

I went with a local attorney who was recommended by my Workers Comp attorney. Believe it or not I was her very first client.

Please don’t despair at the denials from SS. I was denied my first time and I had to go to a hearing in front of a judge to get approved. It took FIVE FREAKING YEARS to get a hearing and the sad part is the judge approved me in less than 10 minutes. He read my medical records asked me two questions and said "You’re clearly disabled. You’re approved. "

Five years of struggling to make it, I used all my savings and had to rely on family for a while. However, it is important to apply as sin as you can because your benefits are paid retroactive to the date you first applied. I got a check for five years of benefits once I was approved.

As far as amphetamines, been there. My condition required me to take huge amounts of opiod pain meds. They made me so tired I was sleeping 14 to 16 hours a day and tired when I was awake. My doctor gave me amphetamines to counter this and they worked great for about two months. Then I built up a tolerance and they no longer worked.

Oh and fwiw, my benefit is $1700 a month plus my children get $800 a month. I had a good income during my working life, making between $45k and $80 over the years.

Good luck to you.

16

No, you are not automatically declined. My husband was approved on the first try. It all depends on the illness/disability. I don’t doubt that the initial decline rate is very high, but it’s not automatic.

17

My disabling event happened in March some years ago. I used up 51 of my sick leave days to finish out the school year. Docs said no to going back to work so I resigned and applied for SSDI and a disability retirement. This was at the first of August. Got my first retirement deposit Sept. 1, and my first SSDI deposit September 15.

My issue is listed in the serious medical conditions linked to in an earlier post. Also, I was very thorough in the documentation asked for in the application. There is a five month waiting period before one’s SSDI application will be considered, and I was fortunate to have a regular full paycheck for those months.

18

Sorry to bump the thread, but I have the same question.

I need a social security disability attorney. I have to apply for benefits. I am based in Oregon and have no idea where to start looking. The “yellow pages”/Google ads guys scare me. The one that my disability attorney recommended won’t take me because he’s based in California.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find someone? Need answer kind of fast.

Thank you!

19

Not at all, in my not inconsiderable direct experience.

Most of the big firms will take anyone, no matter how weak your claim. There is no guarantee they will do anything to work up your case until right before your hearing. You have no idea who will rep you at the hearing, and will likely not speak with them until the day of your hearing.

Not all reps need to be attys. Some of the better reps I encounter are not.

I would strongly recommend a smaller, local firm. Tho some are as bad - if not worse - than the big firms. You definitely want someone who specializes in SS disability. You have to interview a couple, and make your best judgment as to which is not a complete whore. They ARE out there - I’m just not sure how easily a prospective client could spot them… A couple of things to ask would be what they will do to help you obtain all necessary records, who will represent you at the hearing, and whether they intend to file a pre-hearing brief.

I think the current award rate at hearing level is in the low 40%s. So 55-60% of folk will be disappointed following their hearings. You and I might differ as to what percentage of those folk are, in fact, disabled.

ALJs vary greatly in terms of pay rates - as do hearing offices and regions for a number of reasons. The best you can do is hope you draw a high paying judge when he/she is having a good day, don’t completely exaggerate your situation, and hope your rep isn’t a complete bullshitter. Good luck!

20

One way to find a lawyer is to ask around, literally - ask friends and family if any of them have needed to make a disability claim, and if so, if they were happy with their lawyer/rep.