There is an offbeat little provision in the Social Security regulations that grants benefits for a worker who fits a particular vocational profile. This is the "worn out worker" rule. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1562(a).
The rule has 3 requirements for claimants:
At step 5 of the sequential evaluation process, Social Security considers four factors to determine whether or not you are disabled: your residual functional capacity, your age, your education, and your work experience. 20 C.F.R. 404.1520(a)(4)(v).
Social Security defines several educational levels. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1564.
When I was a young boy, Carl Yastrzemski was the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. His years of experience at Fenway Park gave him an advantage, and he was adept at playing the carom off the left field wall and working with the odd angles in the left field corner. In contrast, visiting players were
For Social Security disability, retroactive disability benefits can be paid for up to 12 months prior to the date you filed your claim, if you were disabled during that time.
Here is a simple example:
Assume that a person filed for Social Security disability benefits today, August 1, 2009. Disability benefits are available for the past
The hearing offices have senior staff attorneys, called attorney advisors, who review claims prior to hearing for possible on the record decisions. If an on the record (OTR) decision is appropriate, they draft a fully favorable decision. If an OTR is not appropiate, they complete an "Attorney Advisor Worksheet," and the claim goes back to its place in line
The First Circuit has a new memorandum decision which discusses fibromyalgia symptoms in the context of a Social Security disability claim.
In Johnson v. Astrue, 597 F.3d 409 (1st Cir. 2009), the Court heard an appeal of an ALJ’s denial of disability benefits. The ALJ in her decision discounted the opinion of Dr. Ali,
The June 2009 Social Security Forum, which is published by NOSSCR for its members, has a good update regarding Requests for Hearings by ALJ.
SSA has revised HALLEX I-2-0-40, which deals with the Request for Hearing filing requirements. The HALLEX provision has been revised to reflect the elimination of the signature requirement when
The Portland, Maine hearing office is still #1 in the country, according to the latest statistics released by the SSA and republished in Social Security News. The Portland hearing office has an average processing time of 270 days. Processing time runs from the day the hearing office receives your hearing request to the day a decision
In the first ten days of July, we listed ten top reasons to write a hearing brief. Here is a recap:
Reason #1 – Be a Professional
Reason #2 – Be More Prepared for the Hearing
Reason #3 – Test Drive Your "Theory of the Case"
Reason #4 – The Judge Wants a Memorandum
Well organized ODARs, like the Portland, Maine hearing office, send out a Representative Report T3 each month. The report lists all your clients' claims at that ODAR, sorted by the date of the hearing request. The report gives the status of each and every claim.
This report is a goldmine for the Social Security disability