If you decide to hire a social security disability lawyer to assist you with the Social Security case, it’s a good idea to know the various things you need to pursue the claim. You need to know some of the benefits that you can get by hiring an attorney to represent you. Keep in mind that the costs are usually straightforward because disability lawyers charge a fee that is regulated by federal law and it can be 25% of the disability back pay.
That said, it’s also worth noting that the fee can increase, especially if the case reaches the federal court or the Appeals Council. The benefits of hiring a Oklahoma SSI Lawyer are many, and worth knowing them. This post discusses the key things you need to know before hiring a social security disability attorney.
How a social security disability attorney can help you
The key reason for hiring a social security disability lawyer is that you need someone to assist you with the disability case. In this way, you can increase your chances of getting your claim approved. While some people who handle their social security disability claim get them approved for benefits, several studies indicate that Social Security can easily approve an applicant who has an attorney representing them.
It all starts from the initial application,hearing, and even beyond that, you need to find disability lawyers who know how to handle a case for the benefit of their clients. When it comes to the initial application, your attorney can provide advice on the supposed onset date of disability. They can also argue on your behalf that the condition meets one the impairments listed in Social Security’s criteria. Even better, an attorney can assist you to focus on the crucial facts that can be persuasive to Social Security.
At the reconsideration and hearing stages, which are considered to be the first and second stages of appeal, your attorney may gather and submit all the relevant medical evidence, draft a brief for the administrative judge, get the views from your doctors, and prepare you for the questions the judge can ask at the hearing. Your lawyer can also get useful testimony from you during the hearing and can cross-examine the medical expert or vocation expert to show that you can’t work anymore.
When it reaches the next stages of appeal at the federal court and the Appeals Council, your attorney can find better legal arguments to demonstrate that Social Security denied your case wrongly.
As you can see, it’s the right thing to hire a social security disability attorney to represent you, and you need to do it earlier. Therefore, if you are considering filing for a disability claim, then you must call a disability lawyer for a free consultation. Your lawyer can assist you evaluate the strength of the case and help you with the initial application.
While some people decide to do this stage without the help of an attorney, you have good chances of getting approved if you hire an attorney to work on your behalf. Another thing worth considering is that usually people who are approved at the initial application stage only pay a small lawyer’s fee. This is because there are quite few back benefits that are owed from Social Security, but your disability lawyer may still get at least 25 percent of your back for a win in your case.
If utilizing a lawyer to assist with this initial application is a good idea, then hiring an attorney after receiving an initial denial is easy to figure out. Besides improving your chances of winning the case, a disability lawyer may sometimes move the case quickly through the system. This is especially true if you have a terminal medical condition or your financial situation is bad.
For example, your home is being foreclosed or you are homeless, then it’s important to hire an attorney quickly. Moreover, your lawyer may send the judge a request that is an on-the-record decision, meaning that you can be approved for benefits without going through a hearing.
But it’s necessary to remember that an attorney’s efforts to expedite a case can sometimes be unsuccessful. And, many claimants that include those with legal representation may have to wait for a couple of months or sometimes even years for their cases to be resolved.
In some cases, the only time you need to avoid hiring an attorney is when you have already sent an initial application and are waiting for an outcome. There is usually little that an attorney can do at this stage, so there is no sense agreeing to pay a fee of the past-due benefits unless you get a denial. In every situation, the benefits of hiring an experienced lawyer greatly outweighs the costs.
Hence, if you have been diagnosed with a serious medical condition that is preventing you from working, it may be the right time to start the Social Security disability application processes. Perhaps you have already started the process to get the ball rolling, you still need a social security disability attorney to guide you through the process.
Why it’s important to hire a social security disability attorney
Any person who has gone through the process of the Social Security Disability Insurance can attest that it’s a time-consuming and complicated process, even for those who consider themselves to be intelligent individuals. There are just so many issues that are hard to understand.
For instance, many of the disability claims are initially denied, usually because the applicants failed to provide adequate medical evidence. Aside from this, there are certain deadlines that you need to meet throughout the application process. If the claim is denied, it means you just have 60 days to file the right paperwork for the appeal. Remember that the Social Security Administration cannot be forgiving if you miss any of the key deadlines.
Also, if your claim is denied and you want to ask for a disability hearing, you can sometimes wait at least two years for another hearing date. Therefore, there is a lot that goes into successfully winning a disability claim.
There are several benefits to contacting a Social Security Disability attorney. An attorney can work for you as an advocate. They are bound by ethical obligations and professional rules, so you can have peace of mind knowing that your case will be handled carefully.
Dealing with the Social Security Administration is also like speaking another language. It can be hard for you to understand all the issues, so you need to hire an attorney who understands that language well. They can assist to communicate on your behalf, making the entire process a little easier.
Disability attorneys know precisely how they can present your case so that you can stand better chances of winning the claim. The key elements to any Social Security disability case is to provide enough medical evidence. Besides helping you to understand all the medical evidence that is needed, your lawyer may also assist in gathering and presenting all these relevant medical evidence.
If your case does need appealing at a disability hearing, your attorney may prepare you for this meeting, ensuring that you feel at ease and to understand exactly what to expect. They can identify and even prepare the right witnesses on your behalf.
When you decide to hire a disability lawyer, or even when to hire one, you need first to think about how this lawyer can increase your chances of winning the case. Therefore, you need to consider how the disability lawyer is familiar with the Social Security disability application process. The good news is that disability attorneys undergo special training and they need to continue with their education so that they can be familiar with the regulations and laws as they change.
These lawyers go through this process several times because they focus on this field of the law. As a result, they have many clients throughout the process, helping them to understand how the process operates, and why some claims are denied. They also understand what it takes to get claims approved, and they can get your claim approved easily.
Simply put, disability lawyers know what they need to do or not to do when it comes to disability claims. The Blue Book which is also popularly called a medical guide utilized by the Social Security Administration can be hard to understand because everything has technical content. It was written for lawyers and doctors to understand, so it’s hard for anyone to understand what is needed from you.
Your lawyer can review the conditions, the Blue Book listing, and enable you to understand the criteria. Your attorney may then review all the details in your medical records and check the Blue Book to find out if the listing can be met. Even better, your lawyer can check the status of the claim regularly and find out if there is any decision that has been made on your claim or if there is any need to provide extra information.
