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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It has been a little over four months since I published my ebook, entitled 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing. Those who are waiting for their Social Security disability hearings will find helpful information in the book, and can learn how to make their claims stronger.

Although I wrote the book for my clients, it is available on my law firm website to anyone as a free PDF download. The book has now been downloaded thousands of times.

There is no form to fill out; no name or email address is required to download the book. This link will take you to the page on my law firm website to download 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing. 

Here are the ten steps:

  1. Appeal within 60 days
  2. Prepare for the wait for a hearing
  3. Determine why your claim was denied
  4. Learn how Social Security evaluates disability claims
  5. Think about your functional limitations in a specific way
  6. Know your work history for the past 15 years
  7. Continue with your regular medical treatment
  8. Obtain a medical source statement
  9. Consider a statement from a spouse, parent, sibling or friend
  10. Get legal help

Again, you can download 10 Steps to Prepare for Your Social Security Disability Hearing for free, without providing any information about yourself to me. I hope the book empowers you to make your claim stronger for your hearing. 

I came across a Social Security disability law blog recently, and liked what the lawyer had to say. Check out the North Carolina Social Security Disability Attorney blog by Vaughn Clauson.

I enjoyed the blog because the author provided his opinion and insight regarding many of the topics of his posts, rather than just reciting a news story or providing a disability law tip. Furthermore, there is engagement in the blog, which is all to rare in this space. He commented on a post on another blog, and gave his opinion. That's the way it is supposed to be.

I follow dozens of Social Security law blogs. Too many are written in a vacuum, as if no one else is writing about the same area of law and discussing similar issues. Ideally, the Social Security disability law "blogosphere" should be a group conversation. It is refreshing to see a legal writer reach out to the disability law community through his blog. We are all the better for it.

Please take a look at Vaughn Clauson's blog. You can then subscribe to it by email, or through your RSS Reader.

There is a truly excellent decision by Connecticut U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kravitz on the topic of medical expert testimony by telephone at a Social Security disability hearing. The case is Edwards v. Astrue (D. Conn. August 10, 2011). Download Edwards v. Astrue. 

Kudos to New York attorney Jeff Delott, who wrote about the Edwards decision recently on his legal blog, after learning about it at the Second Circuit meeting at the Fall NOSSCR Conference. Please read Jeff's post about the Edwards decision.

The Edwards decision concerns telephone testimony by a medical expert witness. Sometimes an administrative law judge arranges for a medical expert (ME) to testify at a disability hearing. A medical expert is always a doctor, when the issue is the claimant's physical impairments. The ME is usually psychologist when an opinion regarding the claimant's mental impairments is desired (occasionally, both a doctor and a psychologist will appear at a hearing). A medical expert is available to assist the judge to determine a claimant's medically determinable impairments, and whether or not a medical condition meets or equals a listed impairment. Frequently the ME will offer an opinion on the claimant's functional limitations. 

Certain judges use medical experts more often than others. We disability lawyers know which judges typically utilize medical experts, and we know the medical experts who routinely testify in our locale. 

Sometimes the medical expert is not going to be friendly to the claimant's cause. There are some bad apples out there in medical expert land, who are known to consistently (and often forcefully) testify that a claimant's impairments do not meet a listing and do not impose disabling functional limitations. When the judge lines up a "bad apple" expert to testify at your hearing, you know you have an uphill battle.

Since these bad apple medical experts tend to testify at hearings all over the country, they almost always testify at the hearing by telephone. Which brings us to Edwards v. Astrue, and Judge Kravitz's truly excellent decision. 

Continue Reading Medical Expert Testimony by Telephone at an ALJ Hearing

Photo: Bridget in her room

Every other Friday, I highlight notable articles on the topic of Social Security disability.

I had a discussion with a colleague recently about acceptable medical sources for mental impairments. This issue is part of proving a Social Security disability claim. So, for the purpose of this post, let’s assume that a person aplying for disability suffers from severe depression. Who is qualified to diagnose that depression?

For a starting place, the Social Security Act requires a medically determinable physical or mental impairment as the basis for a finding of disability. The regulations specify that a medically determinable impairment must be established by an acceptable medical source. So to have the depression recognized as a severe impairment at step 2 of the sequential evaluation, it must be diagnosed by an acceptable medical source.

In my view, any physician (or a psychologist) can diagnose depression (or another mental impairment) as an acceptable medical source under the regulations.

My colleague had the viewpoint that the depression diagnosis must come from a psychiatrist or psychologist, who deal with mental issues all the time. In support of this position, my colleague noted that the DDS state agencies use psychologists instead of M.D.’s to determine mental MDIs and resultant functional limitations. Furthermore, at the hearing level, a psychologist or psychiatrist is used as a medical expert on the issue of a claimant’s mental impairments, and a “regular” doctor is used to evaluate a claimant’s physical impairments. So my colleague’s view is that a plain vanilla primary care physician is not an acceptable medical source to diagnose depression.

Let’s see what the regulations say.

Continue Reading Acceptable Medical Sources for Mental Impairments

How long does it take to decide a Social Security disability claim in Maine?

The initial consideration of your claim usually takes 4-5 months.

If your claim is denied, Maine uses an intermediate Reconsideration step in the disability claim process. The Reconsideration process currently takes another 4-5 months in Maine. Most Social Security disability claims are denied again at Reconsideration. Those claims that are appealed from a Reconsideration denial will go to a hearing by an administrative law judge.

In 10 "prototype" states (including New Hampshire), the denied claims that are appealed skip the Reconsideration step of the process and proceed directly to a hearing by an administrative law judge.

The wait time for a hearing varies throughout the country. In Maine, the average processing time at the hearing level is almost 14 months. However, since the Portland hearing office gives 75-day notice of hearings, you should have the date of your hearing within a year of filing your ALJ hearing request.

In summary, that's an everage of 4-5 months for the initial consideration of your claim for disability benefits, 4-5 months for reconsideration, and then 14 months until a decision is written and sent at the hearing level. So two years is now the average time in Maine for a Social Security disability or SSI claim to get from an initial claim to an ALJ decision.

Tip #1: To shorten your wait, appeal a denied claim right away.

Tip #2: Use the time waiting for a hearing to make your disability claim stronger.


 

Law firms practicing Social Security disability law come in all shapes and sizes, from "nation-wide" practices to one person offices. Is there a right size? In my view, a law firm should be “right-sized” for the needs of its clients.

More important than size however, is the distinguishing characteristics of the lawyer and firm. Look for these important qualities:

  • Specialization. Seek a lawyer that spends most of his or her time doing this kind of work. Social Security disability claims are not like other legal cases. It is not a place for dabblers.
  • Experience. Believe me, you do not want to be the client of the lawyer I saw last week, who did not know the location of the bathroom at the hearing office. Seriously, if your representative has not spent enough time at the hearing office to know where the bathroom is, imagine what else is unknown. Your lawyer should have conducted dozens, hopefully hundreds, of disability hearings.
  • A local or regional presence. Your lawyer should know, have experience with, and have a relationship with the administrative law judges that may decide your claim. Also, familiarity with the professional staff at the Social Security offices is very helpful.
  • Attorney involvement early in the process. Your lawyer should not wait until a hearing is scheduled to get involved in the claim. You may miss opportunities to develop the claim, to obtain opinions from treating providers, and to frame the issues in the disability claim. Early involvement by the lawyer is advantageous. Furthermore, for claimants with physical limitations who are age 55 or over, a lawyer should be involved when the claim is first filed.
  • Responsiveness. Are you getting the answers you need? You should not be kept in the dark about your case. Regular communication with your lawyer and law firm staff are helpful to your claim. 

Keep these qualities in mind as you choose a Social Security disability lawyer. There is a permanent page on this site, with a link on the sidebar, that provides with more details about choosing a disability lawyer.

Every other Friday I highlight articles of note for Social Security disability claimants and their representatives: