If you have a claimant awaiting at the hearing level who was denied benefits by DDS at Step 4 due to the ability to perform a past job, and that job was last performed more than 5 years ago, that job no longer counts as PRW.
Take a look at the case to see if…
In January, Social Security added claims at Initial and Reconsideration to its status report in Electronic Records Express (ERE). After 5 months using this additional feature, I have found it to be hugely helpful. It is a marked improvement for those of us managing Social Security disability claims.
Social Security has now added more data…
For many years I have written briefs for judges prior to hearings on disability claims. Since I have started writing short briefs for disability examiners at the initial or reconsideration level, I have won many more cases at the DDS levels of review.
I write short, one or two-page letters to the disability examiners, setting…
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.
The upcoming Juneteenth National Independence Day…
I recently had a disability case with a judge from the Albany hearing office. That judge sends out a letter 30 days before a scheduled hearing setting his expectations for evidence at the hearing. I really liked the letter. It is not standard practice for most judges to send a prehearing letter like this, at…
Social Security published a final rule in today’s Federal Register, reducing the period for past relevant work (PRW) from 15 years to 5 years. The rule becomes effective June 8, 2024.
Step 4 of the disability sequential evaluation considers a person’s ability to perform their past relevant work (both as actually performed and as generally…
The fee cap imposed by Social Security on the 25% Representative contingency fee for direct payment of successful disability claims will be raised from $7,200 to $9,200 this Fall. Here is the press release from Social Security.
Update: the fee cap will be raised effective November 30, 2024.
Social Security now provides a check sheet, in the form of an online fillable PDF, for on the records requests.
An “on the record” (OTR) request asks Social Security to grant your case on the record without a hearing. This request is for claims awaiting a hearing at the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). On the…
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.
