In my practice, I always try to schedule an in-office, in-person meeting with my client prior to his/her hearing. Usually, I try to meet a week or two before the actual hearing date to discuss the hearing procedures and to practice answering the questions that are likely going to be asked.
As I noted this past November, I am starting to see more instances when a judge will want to change the "onset date" for my client's disability. What does this mean and should you be concerned?
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This afternoon, I tried an SSDI case involving a 53 year old woman claiming disability based on diabetes and associated complications. In reviewing the record it appears to me that my client had been diabetic for several years prior to her diagnosis and has most likely suffered permanent vision and nerve damage. Unfortunately her medical care has been suboptimal and while she has been compliant with treatment the record does not contain enough for me to make an argument based on the listing at 9.08. Instead I went with a functional capacity argument.
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I recently received a question from a woman named Carol who wants to know if she should wait to file for benefits because she is planning on moving to a different state. She writes:
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When you appear before a Social Security judge for a hearing, there are four possible outcomes:
- you will be approved
- you will be denied
- your case will be continued to another date for a supplemental hearing
Filed under Administrative Law Judges, Case studies, Diabetes and disability, Disability hearings, Grid rules by
As I have discussed extensively on this blog and on my web sites, the ultimate question in any Social Security disability case boils down to this – would you be able to perform reliably a simple, entry-level job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?
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I invite you to visit my Georgia Social Security disability web site to read my latest heart disease disability case study report about a case I tried last week on behalf of a client with a longstanding cardiac disease complicated by decreased kidney function and diabetes. Like many of the cardiac disease cases that I try, there were three viable theories of disability that could apply: (1) a listing argument; (2) a functional capacity argument and (3) a grid rule argument.
There is no such thing as the "perfect" case. Even the most deserving claimants may end up with a doctor who they don't like or with whom they do not get along. This is especially true in "pain" cases when narcotic medicines may be prescribed. There are also doctors out there who do not believe in the concept of disability – as far as they are concerned no one is fully disabled and these doctors will not cooperate with a Social Security claimant at all (needless to say, it is helpful if you discover this trait in your treating doctors early enough in your case to find another doctor!).
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I was reading this morning's paper and I saw in the obituary section that retired Social Security judge Albert Feldman passed away this past Wednesday, July 22, 2009. With your indulgence I would like to take a break from my usual blog posts – that speak about case strategies, changes in the law, etc. to reflect on the influence that this kind, compassionate and extraordinary man had on me, and I suspect many others.
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I recently ran across a very timely post on Jim Reed's New York Injury Law blog entitled "When Facebook Isn't a Friend to Your Personal Injury Case." Jim correctly points out that the default privacy setting on Facebook is essentially "no privacy" meaning that anyone in your geographic area can view your profile, your photos and comments made by and about you.
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