Year: 2014

Element 6: The Importance of Medical Evidence According to the Social Security Administration website, SSA.gov, "medical evidence is the cornerstone of the disability determination" for both Social Security Disability Insurance (Title II), and for SSI (Title XVI)...

Element 5: Ensuring Maximum Past Due Benefits Are Paid to Our Clients - The Public Disability Offset Past due benefits (a.k.a. retroactive benefits) are paid to claimants after a favorable disability determination is reached. It is our job to make sure that our...

Element 4: Establish and Maintain Credibility Of Our Clients and the Attorney A fourth element of effective representation is credibility. This includes not only maintaining the credibility of the attorney, but establishing the credibility of our client. The...

Element 3: Strong Advocacy Before and During the Hearing: Claimant and Expert Testimony A third element of effective representation is advocacy, which involves asserting a strong, solid theory of disability. Effective advocacy involves many aspects, including the...

Element 2: Preparation for the Hearing: Submitting and Evaluating Medical Evidence A second element of effective representation is preparation. After meeting with our client, the attorney sets in motion an individual case plan to ensure that all relevant medical...

Element 1 : Communication Between Client and Attorney The first element of effective representation is communication. For our firm, communication begins by having the client meet with his/her attorney at the beginning of the case. This serves two purposes. First, the...

     A severe mental disorder can affect an individual's ability to work in many ways. However, having a definitive diagnosis of a mental disorder is not automatically grounds for receiving Social Security Disability benefits. As with all claims for disability...