Can A Social Security Disability Attorney help speed up my Social Security Disability Hearing or Social Security Disability Decision?

There are only a few scenarios in which a Social Security Disability Attorney can help speed up a Social Security Disability Hearing. It is important to understand that the main goal of hiring a Social Security Disability Attorney is to increase your chances or winning your Social Security Disability claim, not expediting the Social Security Disability process. That said, listed below are several ways a Social Security Disability Attorney may be able to help expedite your Social Security Disability Claim: 

• Ensure all updated medical information is gathered in a timely fashion and sent to the Social Security Administration prior to all appeals.
• In certain limited cases a Social Security Disability hearings may be scheduled more quickly if the claimant can prove they are in dire need. The Social Security Disability Attorney can work with the claimant to submit the necessary paperwork: dire need letter, past due notices for rent, utility bills, eviction notices and medical prescriptions. There must be serious financial need to warrant an expedited Social Security Disability hearing.
• If you have had a Social Security Disability Hearing scheduled you may be able to expedite the decision by requesting an on-the-record-review (OTR). This OTR request will ask that the Social Security Disability claim be reviewed before the Administrative hearing is held. The main benefit of the on-the-record-review is that you may get approved more quickly with out waiting for the decision of the Administrative Law Judge at the Social Security Disability hearing. OTR Reviews are only approved if your physical or mental health condition has gotten substantially worse and your medical information is up to date and can substantiate your worsening health claim.
• The last way to speed up the Social Security Disability hearing is to have a United States Congressman or United States Senator launch a congressional inquiry. A Social Security Disability hearing may be expedited for a claimant if a staff member requests it either by calling or writing. This is difficult to do, but has had limited success.

In most instances a Social Security Disability Attorney will not be able to move your Social Security Disability claim through the Social Security Administrative process faster than you can with out Social Security Disability legal representation. What the Social Security Disability Attorney can do is increase your chances of winning Social Security Disability benefits at all levels of the Social Security Disability process.

Most Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income claims are denied at the initial application level and the reconsideration level. If your Social Security Disability claim is appealed to the Administrative Law Judge level and you are scheduled for a Social Security Disability hearing, representation by a Social Security Disability lawyer can greatly increase your chances of success.

A Social Security Disability Attorney has the experience to gather, read and evaluate your medical documentation and prepare the information for the Administrative Law Judge in the format he requires.  The Social Security Disability Attorney can evaluate your mental and physical health impairments and help the Administrative Law Judge evaluate how it compares to the Social Security Impairment Listing and determine the amount of your residual work capacity.

The most important thing a Social Security Disability Attorney offers is the expertise to navigate the Social Security Disability hearings, decipher and answer all the Administrative Law Judge questions and answer questions regarding your work capacity. If there are vocational or medical experts who are providing expert testimony for the Administrative Law Judge, your Social Security Disability Attorney can respond to the experts and provide additional information which the Administrative Law Judge can use to make his decision.

Tags: disability lawyer, Social Security Disabilitty Attorney, Social Security Disability Application, Social Security Disability Benefits, Social Security Disability case, Social Security Disability Process, social security disability review, Supplemental Security Income

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 11:43 am and is filed under Social Security Disability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.