SSDRC

Filing an Application for Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability List of Impairments

Social Security Disability and SSI Back pay

Social Security Disability Status

SSI Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability and SSI Requirements

Social Security, SSI, and Mental Disability

How Long Does It Take To Get Disability Benefits?

Qualifying: What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability?

Should I be Represented by a Disability Lawyer or a Non-Specialized Disability Attorney?

A social security disability case or SSI disability case should always be handled and represented by a specialist. This means that if you have an attorney working on your claim, the attorney should be one that specializes in the representation of SSD and SSI claims versus an attorney that only devotes a percentage of his or her total workload to social security cases and devotes the rest of their workload to, for example, a combination of traffic, personal injury, and medical malpractice cases.

Why do you want a specialist? For the most practical reason, really. The disability system administered by the Social security Administration is a complex system of case law and regulatory and administrative procedure (which is why the federal judges that make decisions on claims at the hearing level are ALJs, or administrative law judges). And to fully understand how cases are decided, how they are processed (by disability examiners who make decisions on each disability application), and how and why a case is either approved or denied, it takes a specialist. This is particularly evident when you take into consideration the fact that a disability representative should be able to review a claimant's file and quickly and easily understand the following:

1. The medical evidence - Was all the medical evidence gathered? Was some of it missed when the disability examiner requested the claimant's records. Was some of it not properly considered? Was the evidence properly evaluated? This last question is especially important since the medical evidence is used to determine the claimant's residual functional capacity which allows the disability examiner to decide whether or not the claimant is capable of going back to work.

2. The decision that was made on the case - A disability representative who is an experienced specialist will be able to review the history of the case and understand what medical-vocational rule was employed to direct a decision of disabled or not disabled. Likewise, a specialist will be able to ascertain whether or not a case processing error was made, or what the prospects are for approval should the claim be appealed.

An attorney who only occasionally represents social security disability cases and SSI cases will, typically, have less understanding of how the federal system works and, as a result, a claimant who has such a representative will potentially be a grave disadvantage if this type of representative handles their case.

How can a claimant know if their disability attorney, or prospective attorney, specializes in social security law, or only handles the occasional claim? The easiest way to to do this is visit the attorney's website, or to simply ask them on the phone if they specialize in social security, or represent other types of legal cases.

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Social Security Disability & SSI Resource Center

Social Security Disability and SSI Questions

Social Security Disability SSI Application Process

Filing for Social Security Disability and SSI Benefits

Social Security Disability SSI Decisions

What is considered a Disabling condition?

The Disability Decision Process

Winning Social Security Disability or SSI

Requirements for Social Security Disability and SSI