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DISABILITY HEARINGS: LOOK FOR DANGER SIGNS!

One of the reasons for taking your lawyer or representative with you to a Social Security disability hearing is to avoid the legal pitfalls that you may not see, or not see in time.  For example, I was at a hearing recently where the judge asked the claimant when she stopped working.  Then the judge said, "That's about the time time you got married, isn't it?"  And the judge followed up with, "So on that date you felt that you could afford to stop working?"

The pitfall there is obvious but the claimant was under so much stress that I don't believe she caught it.  The judge may have been making an inference that the claimant quit working on a particular date, not because she was disabled, but because she could afford not to work any more.

At redirect, I questioned the claimant to clarify what she meant.  "You are not suggesting that you were able to continue working but that you stopped because of your marriage are you?"  The claimant replied, "No, not at all.  I stopped because I was not able to keep working, not because I got married."

Your representative or attorney is there as your advocate--to watch your back, so to speak, so that you are given every opportunity to present evidence favorable to your claim, to refute unfavorable assumptions and clarify inconsistent evidence.

Even though I meet with my clients well in advance of the hearing to prepare them for their testimony, I cannot foresee every obstacle.  But I do try to remain alert to problems during the hearing and clarify issues as much as possible. 
  

 The Forsythe Firm

(256) 799-0297        Toll Free  1 - 855 - 854 - CASH

 

 Established in 1979, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives is an association of over 4,000 attorneys and other advocates who represent Social Security and Supplemental Security Income claimants. Our members are committed to providing high quality representation for claimants, to maintaining a system of full and fair adjudication for every claimant, and to advocating for beneficial change in the disability determination and adjudication process.


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