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 am not the only lawyer producing content about Social Security disability law. Here is a list of recent notable posts regarding Social Security disability claims:

Jonathan Ginsberg, Being Prepared for Your Social Security Disability Telephone Hearing (December 10, 2021)(video)

Morgan H. Zavadil, Social Security Disability Hearing: Past Work Inquiry And Importance, Midwest Disability (December 1, 2021)

Neil Good, Guidelines for Answering a Social Security Function Report, Good Law Group Blog (October 20, 2021)

Lawrence Rohlfing, Sedentary, Simple Repetitive Tasks Equals No Significant Work, California Social Security Attorney (October 16, 2021)

John L. Keefe, What To Look For In Your Social Security Disability Denial Letter, Keefe Disability Law Blog

The Social Security Administration’s website has a list of Best Practices for Claimant’s Representatives, which was significantly updated last November.

The best practices are organized into categories:

  • In General
  • Prior to an Administrative Law Judge Hearing
  • After an Administrative Law Judge Hearing
  • Actions Before the Appeals Council

This list of best practices is required reading for Social Security disability lawyers. It is worth revisiting every now and then. Please take a look.

Ascites, which is fluid build-up in the abdomen, can occur when pressure builds up in the veins of the liver and the liver doesn’t function as it should. The most common cause of ascites is cirrhosis of the liver. The abdominal fluid can be drained periodically by a procedure called paracentesis. Patients with severe liver diease may have several liters of fluid drained during a paracentesis.

Social Security has a listed impairment that addresses this condition when it is due to chronic liver disease. Listing 5.05 B.1. states:

Ascites or hydrothorax not attributable to other causes, despite continuing treatment as prescribed, present on at least 2 evaluations at least 60 days apart within a consecutive 6-month period. Each evaluation must be documented by:

1. Paracentesis or thoracentesis;

See also 5:00D.6. “The required findings must be present on at least two evaluations at least 60 days apart within a consecutive 6-month period and despite continuing treatment as prescribed.”

As listings go, this one is fairly straightforward, and easy to evaluate if you know what to look for. Once the medical records are obtained and reviewed, each paracentesis procedure will be shown.

Someone who meets the listing likely has other symptoms of chronic liver disease, such as fatigue, and may be found to be disabled on a medical-vocational basis at step 5 of the sequential evaluation. But the listing has fewer variables and can get the claim decided much faster, often without a hearing.

When deciding a disability claim, the Social Security Administration looks at whether an individual is able to perform the duties of a job at steps 4 and 5 of the sequential evaluation. Social Security does not consider whether an individual would be hired for that job.

Social Security’s regulations directly address this issue.

20 CFR 404.1566(c) states:

(c) Inability to obtain work. We will determine that you are not disabled if your residual functional capacity and vocational abilities make it possible for you to do work which exists in the national economy, but you remain unemployed because of—

(1) Your inability to get work;

(2) Lack of work in your local area;

(3) The hiring practices of employers;

(4) Technological changes in the industry in which you have worked;

(5) Cyclical economic conditions;

(6) No job openings for you;

(7) You would not actually be hired to do work you could otherwise do; or

(8) You do not wish to do a particular type of work.

Social Security will match your functional abilities against the requirements of of jobs in the national economy. For the purposes of a Social Security disability determination, it doesn’t matter if no employer would hire you.

From time to time I ask certain clients to keep a journal to keep track of their symptoms. For people with symptoms that are variable day to day, a journal can be be a good tool to quantify how often the symptoms are severe.

Every case is different, and everyone’s symptoms are different. So a journal is not for everyone. But for some disability applicants with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, vertigo, or chronic pain, a daily journal can really help.

These impairments do not fit well into the Social Security physical RFC format, because on a given day, a claimant may be able to perform all the requirements of light or sedentary work. The next day, however, the same claimant may be unable to get out of bed due to symptoms from the impairment.

The most likely route to a favorable decision for such a claim is that the administrative law judge determines that for several days each month you will be unable to work due to your impairment. The vocational expert that typically appears at these hearings will likely testify that there are no jobs for a person that would miss 2 or more days of work a month on an ongoing basis. As a result, the judge rightfully concludes that you are unable to work on a “regular and continuing basis” and therefore qualify for Social Security disability benefits (see Social Security Ruling 96-8p).

You can help the judge make this determination by keeping a journal, so that you have an accurate record of how many “bad days” you have each month due to your impairment.

At the hearing level, the SSA adds to the disability claim file a document called the “Detailed Earnings Query,” or DEQY. The DEQY lists all the employers that have paid wages (and the amount of annual wages paid), during the past 15 years. Fifteen years is the time frame for past relevant work for Step 4 of the sequential evaluation of a Social Security disability claim.

When past relevant work is critical to a claim (Social Security disability claimants over the age of 55 suffering from physical impairments, in particular), a Representative needs to look very carefully at the DEQY, so that all past relevant work can be properly classified and evaluated.

Let me give an example, one that turned out fine but could have been a disaster.

Continue Reading Look at the DEQY

When I prepare a client for a hearing, I always urge the client to provide specific examples of functional limitations…. better than blanket statements.

I have learned over the years that the more time I spend with the client, the better I am able to tease out these stories. I have long felt that they can make a big impact on a hearing.

 

Why does an administrative judge request a review by a vocational expert of the jobs from a claimant’s work record?

It means that the administrative law judge (ALJ) is considering whether or not you can return to your past relevant work at step 4 of Social Security’s sequential evaluation process. After the vocational expert (VE) characterizes your past jobs, the judge will ask the VE whether or not a person with your limitations could return to any of those previous jobs. If the VE answers yes, you have probably just lost your disability claim.

If the VE answers no, the judge will then proceed to step 5 of the sequential evaluation process. The judge may then ask the VE if there are other jobs available to a person with your impairments. Hopefully the answer to this question is also no.

Vocational expert testimony can be complicated, and it often a determines whether or not your claim for diability benefits is is granted. Please do not attend a disability hearing without a Social Security disability attorney.

Back in the day, the vast majority of granted Social Security disability claims were decided by Social Security’s listed impairments, which set forth medical criteria of a condition that is presumed to be disabling at step 3 of the sequential evaluation. Today, however, the majority of allowed claims are determined based upon medical-vocational factors at step 5 of the sequential evaluation.

Therefore, as a practical matter, disability is functionality. Your claim will be allowed or not based upon your functional limitations, and how they affect your ability to do work-related activities. In the context of Social Security disability, this concept is expressed as Residual Functional Capacity (RFC).

Your Residual Functional Capacity is the cornerstone of your Social Security disability claim. The RFC is Social Security’s assessment of your abilities to do sustained physical and mental activities on a regular and continuing basis in a work setting. The RFC considers only those funtional limitations resulting from medically determinable impairments. See 20 CFR 404.1545 and Social Security Ruling 96-8p.

Social Security looks at your ability to do basic things for an 8-hour workday, such as lifting and carrying, standing and walking, and sitting. For those with mental impairments, the SSA will assess the ability to maintain focus and concentration, to follow simple instructions, and interact with other people throughout a workday. These are very basic requirements of any employment.

The resulting RFC is used to determine whether or not you can return to your past relevant work (step 4 of the sequential evaluation) or do other work (step 5 of the sequential evaluation).

The administrative law judge must assess your RFC from the information contained in the disability claim file. Evidence of your work-related limitations can be provided by your medical records, or by opinions from your treating medical providers regarding your functional limitations. .

Non-medical evidence can also help to establish your RFC.  Limits in your daily activities tend to demonstrate functional limitations. A statement from a spouse or friend may also help to establish your RFC. Testimony at the hearing regarding specific examples of your limitations can also assist the judge to assess your RFC.

With both medical and non-medical evidence, the goal fo a disability lawyer is to establish physical and/or mental limitations that preclude your ability to work on a regular and continuing basis.