Considering filing for Social Security Disability? Every year hundreds of thousands of American Taxpayers become unable to work because of illness or injury. The financial hardships imposed on the disabled led to the institution of several safety net programs within the Social Security Administration (SSA). The most common programs being the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) under Title II of the Social Security Act and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program under Title XVI of the Act.
Within the disability programs set up by the SSA, are rules and procedures governing what constitutes being declared disabled and thus eligible for disability benefits. However, common sense does not always tell you what qualifies an applicant for disability. The confusion and difficulty is evident when you examine the extremely low initial approval rate for applicants (only 35% in 2008).
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So if it is so hard to win a social security disability case, do I have to have an attorney? In a word, no, but consider the following: In a conversation I recently had with several fellow trial lawyers, I mentioned that I regularly represented claimants in their disability claims before the Social Security Administration. The consensus response from the group was it was almost impossible to win one of these cases. The comment that if you could pick up a pencil and fill out the application you weren’t going to be found disabled seemed to express the group’s sentiment.
A recent survey by the Houston Chronicle partially confirms this notion, but at the same time reveals good lawyering can go a long way towards helping the good and honest taxpayers get the disability payments that they deserve and have paid for through their years of payroll deductions. The Chronicle found that while less than a third of all non-represented claimants prevailed before the Social Security Administration, the survey also found that roughly two-thirds of all attorney-represented claimants prevailed.
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My own conversations with ALJs are also revealing. Without exception, the ALJs who I talk to prefer claimants who are represented by experienced Social Security Disability attorneys. The reason is simple: it makes the ALJ’s life easier. Experienced attorneys end up doing most of the work that the ALJ would otherwise have to do if they were dealing with a claimant without an attorney. The Houston Chronicle’s article speaks for itself.
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