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 get calls and emails from people who are still working, but are struggling, and are considering Social Security disability.

Depending upon a person’s individual circumstances, this is typically what I say to those who are currently working, but are exploring the disability process:

It is hard to plan for disability. First, there is no

Trial work is a concept that applies to people already entitled to Title II disability benefits. Sometimes Title II recipients will attempt to return to work to see how it goes. Social Security encourages this, and allows a 9-month period for a person to still receive disability benefits while testing his or her ability to

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

Here is the latest chart, for FY 2014:

The chart shows what claimants can expect, statistically, for their claim

Working on initial disability claims, from the application itself through the DDS review process, is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job as a Social Security disability lawyer.

Most of my practice involves preparing disability claims for hearings before administrative law judges, but a certain percentage of my cases are initial claims or

Columbus Day is one of those stealth federal holidays that does not get the attention of Memorial Day or Labor Day. It is relevant for those of us practicing Social Security disability law in the Region 1 (the New England states), because we have a 5-day rule for new evidence.

The 5 days excludes weekends

Social Security recently changed its rules regarding videoteleconferencing (VTC), and is now sending notices regarding VTC at an early stage of the hearing level. The new notice requires a decision within 30 whether or not to object to a video hearing. Previously, the objection to VTC was not made until the time a hearing was

If you have an ALJ hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 27th (the day after Memorial Day) the last business day to submit new evidence here in Region 1 is Friday, May 16th. 

In New England we have a 5-day-ahead-of-the-hearing deadline for new evidence. That requirement is a remnant of the experimental DSI process in SSA