As a Social Security Disability attorney, I work very hard to prepare my clients’ cases for disability appeals hearings ahead of time. Unfortunately, there are some things that I just can’t know. Will the Administrative Law Judge, or ALJ, say that there is past relevant work that you can do? Will they find that your work experience, age, education, and residual functional capacity show that you are able to handle a number of different jobs?
These are things that come up in steps 4 and 5 of the appeals process, and they just can’t be predicted when putting together your defense before the hearing. Because of this, experienced disability attorneys tend to follow the Rule of Three.
What is the Rule of Three?
Quite simply, the Rule of Three is a strategy that says it’s wise for your lawyer to show up at the hearing with three arguments for each potential issue that may come up in step 4 or step 5. What are these potential issues?
- Past relevant work – Your lawyer should have arguments showing why specific jobs should not count as past relevant work.
- Performance – You need to show that you wouldn’t be able to do the job as it is “actually” or “generally” performed.
- Testimony – You need to show why testimony from a vocational expert is necessary.
- Step 5 Jobs – These are the other jobs that the judge may argue you can do. You should have three arguments stating what you couldn’t do them.
- Theories of disability – It’s not enough to say you’re disabled; your representative should have three disability theories ready to argue for this as well.
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Why the Rule of Three?
The shortest answer is that your lawyer can’t just assume that the judge will agree with them based on a single reason. What if the judge isn’t swayed enough? Or what if they have a counterargument that nullifies that reason entirely? This is why it’s so important to have an experienced Social Security Disability attorney to support you at each step so that you have the absolute best chance of winning your Social Security Disability appeal.
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