If you are retained by this office to represent you in your pending Social Security disability claim this is the general information about Social Security disability and how our office will represent you.
□ We will obtain all of your medical records from your doctors, clinics and hospitals. Social Security only develops your case one year prior to the date you stopped working. We will fully develop your case file with all available medical history we are able to obtain.
□ We will file all the appeals to the level of the hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. If you receive a Denial Notice that does NOT have our name on the last page, we did not receive it and we are not in Social Security’s computer as your representative. Mail it to us immediately. All appeals must be filed within 60 days of the date of the denial.
□ We will not ask you for any deposit or any other up-front costs and we will not bill you for postage or copying, in the normal course of our representation of you. In the state of Connecticut, the law requires that medical records are sent to an attorney for the purposes of Social Security disability for free. We will only bill you for medical records from out of state. You will not be billed for copying or postage in the normal course of your claim.
□ Attorney's fees must be approved by Social Security, and will only be paid if we win your case. Currently, SSA will approve attorney fees of 25% of your back check, up to $6,000.00 (SSA may increase this amount). Attorney fees should be automatically subtracted from your back benefits / retroactive check and sent directly to us, however, if they are not subtracted, you are responsible to pay us, as stated in our contract. If you receive a check in error and spend it, your future disability benefits may be reduced until the overpayment is satisfied.
□ You have been given New Information Forms and self-addressed, stamped envelopes for you to communicate with us and to keep us up-to-date with your disability. You may use these forms or email us at justesendisabilitylaw@gmail.com. These forms will be mailed to you every 3 to 4 months. We request that you use these forms, instead of calling us with new information about your claim, because we cannot submit a telephone call as proof of disability to Social Security.
□ We cannot tell you how your “case is going”, until we receive all of the exhibits in your case file. You will receive all letters from the Department of Social Security and as your representative, we will also receive these letters.
□ Prior to the hearing before the Administrative Law Judge, you will be scheduled for a pre-hearing appointment with me. Bring any equipment that you currently use, such as a cane, crutches, braces, TENS unit, with you. Also bring a witness, such as a spouse, a grown child, a minister, a social worker, etc., to come with you. I will prepare you for the hearing, go through the Exhibits in your file, and you can tell me about any changes in your conditions. At that time, I will answer all questions that you may have about your Social Security disability claim.
□ Mail all forms about your daily activities or symptoms, or any medical / hospital records directly to this office for our review, not to Social Security. Complete the form sign it and we will review your answers and submit it to SSA.
□ We have given you doctor questions called "interrogatories" for you to hand deliver to your doctor(s). Please do not drop off these forms. It will be your responsibility to insure that they are completed and submitted to us. If your doctor does not have the time to complete the forms, keep them until your next appointment. These doctor questions are very important for your claim to prove that you are disabled.
□ The cooperation of your treating doctors is critical to your disability claim. If the doctor has not cooperated with you and you wish to change doctors, do so immediately. If you are approved for Title II / DIB disability, your doctor bills will be covered by Medicare after you receive disability checks for 2 years. If you receive state assistance and are approved for disability by the Judge, your doctor will not need to fill out forms for 3 years, therefore, it is in the best interests of your doctor to assist you in your claim for disability.
□ If you are scheduled for a "free" examination by Social Security with one of their doctors, do NOT go to the examination. Mail this letter to us immediately, if our name is not on the last page. We will tell Social Security that they must schedule this examination with your treating doctor, as is required by their rules. If this is an examination with a specialist and you don't see a specialist, we may have no choice but to go.
□ The current wait for a hearing before the Administrative Law Judge is 362 days, over 11.9 months. We cannot rush your claim except under very narrow circumstances. See http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-expedite-ussi.htm.
□ If your claim is approved by the Administrative Law Judge, you should receive a Notice of Decision which may be Fully Favorable, i.e., everything requested is allowed, or Partially Favorable, usually an unfavorable onset date or a denial of reopening a prior claim. If you receive an unfavorable decision, we may discuss options available for a possible appeal.
