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DANGERS OF REPRESENTING YOURSELF IN A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY HEARING

You may have heard that Social Security disability hearings are "informal" and "non-adversarial" and therefore, you may conclude that you can easily represent yourself.  Here are some problems you should be aware of before deciding to represent yourself.

  • Everyone else in the hearing will be a highly trained, experienced professional.  The judge will be a highly trained and experienced professional and so will the the vocational witness.  If there is a medical expert (ME), the doctor will obviously be well trained.  You may be the only person in the hearing who lacks experience, training and familiarity with Social Security's rules, regulations and procedures--a bad spot to be in.
  •  You will have to prove your case according to the rules and regulations that govern the US  Social Security disability program, just as you would have to prove your case in any court of law. There are thousands of pages of rules and regulations.  For example:  Medical evidence may only come from "accepted medical sources."  Some doctor's opinions must be given more weight than others.  Not all of your work is necessarily "past relevant work."  You may meet a Listing or a Grid Rule, which could mean that you should be approved early in the hearing process. The vocational witness may testify about jobs that no longer exist in the US economy.  Or, she may improperly classify your past work, resulting in a Step Four denial.
  • You will need to know the difference between sedentary, light and medium exertion levels.  You should also be able to deal with exertional and non-exertional limitations in function.  Do you know that you may still be disabled according to SSA rules even if you can lift up to 100 pounds, stand/walk up to 8 hours a day, and have no limitations on stooping, bending, kneeling, crouching, crawling or reaching?  
  •  You must be prepared to deal with such technical issues as "date last insured" and "alleged onset date."  Judges often try to move the alleged onset date forward and this can cost you thousands of dollars in back pay, even if you are approved.
  • Failure to use Social Security's rules about absenteeism, concentration, persistence and pace; memory problems, difficulty getting along with others, etc. can snatch a defeat out of the jaws of victory!  
  • Your answer to an innocent-sounding question may ruin your case.  For example, "How much do you think you can lift?"  You say, "I think I could lift 50 pounds."  That may make you able to perform "medium exertion" and opens up millions of jobs in the US economy that you could perform--and it also sets you up for a quick denial of benefits. A vocational knowledge of "lifting" could save the day because it doesn't mean what you may think it means (and that's not a lawyer's trick, it's in the regulations SSA must follow).
What you don't know about Social Security disability regulations can (and probably will) hurt you if you try to represent yourself.  That is why over 80 percent of disability claimants are represented.  That is why a judge must advise you that you have the right to representation and he will ask you sign a waiver if you choose to represent yourself.  That should tip you off to the fact that it may not be such a great idea.

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