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Gordon Gates specializes in Social Security disability law, and he handles claims at every level of the Social Security disability claim process. He assists clients with initial applications for disability benefits, with appeals of denied claims, and with hearings by an administrative law judge.

Gordon has successfully appealed unfavorable administrative law judge decisions the Social Security Appeals Council and to U.S. District Court (District of Maine) to have those claims remanded for new hearings.

Gordon attended Maine Maritime Academy and Tulane University Law School. At Tulane, he served as Senior Articles Editor of the Tulane Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. He was admitted to practice law in Maine in 1991. Since 2005, he has concentrated his law practice on Social Security disability and SSI cases.

Gordon is the publisher of Social Security Disability Lawyer, a nationally-read legal blog. He presented at the Fall 2010 conference of National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) on the topic of Writing Hearing Briefs for the ALJ.

Social Security relies primarily on medical evidence to evaluate disability claims. However, they also look at nonmedical evidence, including the forms that claimants complete during the disability evaluation process. See 20 CFR 404.1513(a)(4).

Nonmedical evidence can also include a statement from parent, spouse, other family member, or a friend. That statement is typically 1

Each year, the Social Security Administration releases statistics about the disability and SSI programs in an easy-to-understand format, called the “waterfall” chart. The waterfall chart shows the percentage of claims approved and denied at the various levels of review.

The chart shows what claimants can expect, statistically, for their claim for Social Security disability benefits.

Last Fall the Social Security published a proposed rule change that would reduce the period of PRW from 15 years to 5 years. As I have said before, I strongly support that change, which would reduce the paperwork burden of disability claims and lead to more realistic determinations.

The Federal Register published today its semiannual

Social Security has added Initial and Reconsideration cases to its status report in Electronic Records Express (ERE).

Here is a screenshot:

ERE Status Report

The status report now allows a Representative to quickly determine whether or not they have been associated with a particular client’s disability claim file. Previously, we would have to try to access the claimant’s

A hearing with an administrative law judge (ALJ) to determine medical eligibility for Social Security disability benefits usually follows a pattern: opening remarks by the judge and then the claimant’s lawyer, the claimant’s testimony, and then testimony of a vocational witness regarding the claimant’s past relevant work, and whether or not various functional limitations would

New evidence for Social Security claims must be submitted 5 business days ahead of the hearing. See 20 CFR 404.935(a) and HALLEX I-2-5-13. With a typical weekend, that’s 7 days ahead of the hearing. Holidays, which are of course not business days, must be accounted for as well. So beware the 3-day holiday weekend.

Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) is the amount of money that one can earn and still qualify for Social Security disability benefits. The amount is adjusted each year for inflation, as shown by this table. In 2023, the amount is $1,470. For 2024, the SGA amount goes up to $1,550.

The SGA amount is important