Welcome! This site is written for Social Security disability claimants, for their legal representatives, and for the network of people involved in the Social Security disability claim process. I hope you find it helpful.
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I have started writing short, one-page letters to the disability examiners at the initial or reconsideration level, setting forth my theory of the case. The letter briefly describes the claimants limitations, and then makes the vocational analysis based upon the claimant’s work history. For many years I have written detailed briefs for judges at the…

Reconsideration is the next step in the Social Security disability adjudication process for those who are initially denied after applying for disability. As the waterfall chart shows, obtaining disability benefits at Reconsideration is the exception, rather than the rule.

I had a client just awarded benefits at Reconsideration on a long-haul COVID claim, so Reconsideration…

There is an organization within Social Security called the Quality Review Board, also known internally as the Disability Quality Branch (DQB). The DQB samples initial and reconsideration determinations from state DDS agencies to ensure that Social Security’s disability rules and regulations are being interpreted and implemented properly by the various state DDS agencies – a…

The staff at the Maine DDS office has been furloughed due to the federal government shutdown. The Portland Press Herald has the story.

DDS is the state agency that makes Social Security disability determinations at the initial and reconsideration levels of administrative review. Although DDS workers are technically state workers, the federal government reimburses…

I have written before about the backlog at the Maine Disability Determination Services, particularly at Reconsideration, since initial claims are given priority. Now, some Reconsideration claims are being routed to the Vermont DDS to help ease the work load.

These claims, if denied again at Reconsideration and appealed, will have hearings in Maine. But the…

The phrase "lost in translation" aptly describes what often happens with a Social Security disability claim at Disability Determination Services (the state agency that makes disability determinations at the initial application and reconsideration levels).

DDS obtains your medical records and usually has them reviewed by a DDS in-house doctor (for physical impairments) and/or a psychologist…