At the Portland, Maine Social Security hearing office, attorneys are asked to submit a "statement of the case," or hearing memorandum, several days prior to the hearing. This request comes from the Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge, in a letter that is mailed when the claim is ready to schedule for a hearing.
Social Security's regulations
The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a numeric scale (from 0 to 100) used by doctors and mental health clinicians to rate the social, occupational and psychological functioning of adults.
The scale is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM-IV), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and provides the diagnostic criteria
What is the sedentary exertional level for Social Security disability?
Social Security classifies the physical exertion requirements of jobs as sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1567. Social Security gives those terms the same meaning as they have in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
The sedentary exertional level involves lifting
The Nashua, New Hampshire Social Security field office has reopened. That office had been closed since October 27th due to water damage in the building.
A trip to your local Social Security office may not be necessary. There are many routine tasks that you can complete online.
When the SSA receives your initial disability claim, it reviews your medical records, and determines your RFC. The problem with this approach is that the SSA does not obtain your doctor's opinion about your limitations. Rather, the SSA reviews your medical records and makes its own determination.
The SSA's approach was described in a recent post on Tim Moore's My
At a Social Security disability hearing, sometimes it is very clear that the claim should be granted. In such cases, a bench decision is available to the administrative law judge. A bench decision must be a fully favorable decision.
For a bench decision, the judge sets forth his reasons for granting the claim orally "from the bench"
One of the most important things you can do for a client as a Social Security disability lawyer is to request reopening of a prior claim. In my opinion, the issue of reopening does not get enough attention.
Reopening a prior claim can add substantially to the retroactive benefits payable to your client. At a recent hearing of
An excellent set of Frequently Asked Questions About Social Security Disability Benefits has been published at the Social Security Perspectives blog. There are 63 questions in all, each with helpful answers.
The FAQs offer excellent information and insight about the Social Security disability process, and are definitely worth reading. Well done.
Social Security must consider the combination of your impairments when considering your eligibility for benefits. Even non-severe impairments must be considered in combination with your severe impairments. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1523.
This can be very important. Sometimes a seemingly minor impairment can rule out your past relevant work, and move your claim past step
Drug addiction or alcoholism (DAA) cannot be a basis for Social Security disability. In fact, if DAA is a contributing factor material to your disability, you are not entitled to disability benefits. See 42 U.S.C. 423(d)(2)(C).
Social Security has a regulation governing how it will determine whether or not DAA is material to a