I received a fully favorable decision today for one of my clients. It was an unusual case, because I never spoke with the client until just before the hearing.

The client found me in March through my Maine Social Security lawyer website, and emailed me. She has such severe anxiety that she does not use the telephone, and rarely leaves her house. She lives several hours away, so I did not visit her at home. Instead, we communicated by mail and email for several months prior to her hearing. Unusual, but I have to say, it worked pretty well.

We finally met in Bangor on the morning of the hearing. The hearing was conducted by videoconference with a judge in Portland, Maine. The written decision has now followed.

It is important to prepare a client for the Social Security disability hearing. Ideally, that preparation takes place in person. But it can be done quite effectively over the telephone, and in fact, by email.