1. you will be approved
2. you will be denied
3. your case will be continued to another date for a supplemental hearing
4. the judge will issue a "partially favorable" decision

Over the past couple of years I have noticed an increase in the number of partially favorable decisions I am receiving.  I think this is because my clients, especially low income clients, do not have access to regular medical care and judges are using consultative exam reports to move the alleged onset dates.

Here is an example of what I mean:  a couple of weeks ago, I tried a case before a judge who is generally considered to be very reluctant to approve cases.  At the time of the hearing my client was a month shy of her 52nd birthday.  She had a 10th grade education and past work as a short order cook.  She alleged disability due to uncontrolled diabetes, numbness in her feet and hands, vision issues and pain.

She last worked 3 years previously, when she was 48 years old.

In reviewing this case, I saw it as a "grid rule" case.   Grid rule 201.10 provides that a 50 year old claimant with less than a high school education, semi-skilled work but no transferable skills who was limited to sedentary work due to an exertional limitation would qualify for disability.

My client had very little money and had last seen a doctor almost 2 years previously.   In addition to the older medical records, there was a consultative examination report from February, 2008 that supported my argument.  My client turned 50 in October, 2007.

At the beginning of the hearing, I advised the judge that we were prepared to amend our onset date to my client's 50th birthday in October, 2007.

I just received the decision and what did the judge do?  He issued a partially favorable decision, approving my client as of February, 2008 – the date of her consultative examination.   I think that any reasonable observer would recognize that my client's condition did not change between October and February.  The net result is only 2 months of past due benefits – but that means about $1,500 to my client.

In my view, the judge's actions were absurd and perhaps a little mean spirited.  During the hearing he made it known that he was not happy with the claimant's pack a day smoking habit (he noted that if she saved the money she spent on smoking she could afford to visit her doctor).

The point here is that when you don't find a way to go to your doctor, or enlist the help of a treating doctor to identify your work limitations, you may find that your judge will pick a date later than the onset date you alleged.  In fact, I know many judges who will always choose onset dates that correspond with a particular medical report.

I think that tying an onset date to the date of a medical report can be a logical choice but such a practice should not be applied mechanically as it was in this case.

You need to be aware of this tendency and make every effort to develop a thorough and convincing medical evidence file so you won't be subject to what could be the arbitrary choices of your judge.

Post from: Social Security Disability Blog

Onset Dates, Consultative Exams and Cynical Judges

At Social Security hearings, judges often call vocational witnesses to classify your past relevant work.   Generally Social Security is concerned with your past relevant work over the past 15 years.  Short durations jobs of less than 3 months are usually considered unsuccessful work attempts (UWA) and don't count as past relevant work.

Vocational witnesses identify both the "exertional level" of your past relevant work as well as the "skill level" of that work.   Jobs are classified exertionally as:

• sedentary
• light
• medium
• heavy
• very heavy

More explanation about what these exertional levels mean – page on this blog;  post from Colorado disability lawyer Tomasz Stasiuk

Jobs are classified by skill level as:

• unskilled
• semi-skilled
• skilled

Vocational experts use a resource called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (D.O.T.) to classify the exertional and skill level of every job that (in theory) exists in the national economy of the United States.  You can read the D.O.T. online by clicking on the link.

The D.O.T. classification of your past work can also be important in a determination as to whether you meet a grid rule.  I have also described how I use the grid rules in cases on my Georgia Social Security web site.

While you are not expected to know how the Dictionary of Occupational Titles works, it will help if you discuss ahead of time with your lawyer how you should describe your past work.   For example you may have had a job title that suggests a particular job, whereas the work you actually performed represents a different job in terms of the D.O.T.

Post from: Social Security Disability Blog

Understanding How Social Security Classifies Your Past Work

Jonathan Ginsberg responds: The "grids" are rules that can make it easier for you to be found disabled. Social Security recognizes that if you are over 50, have a limited education and have limited job skills, you will have a more difficult time re-entering the work force. Job possibilities become even harder at 55 and even more so at 60.

If you put these factors (age, education ,transferability of skills, work capacity) into a table, you can construct a grid of intersecting boxes.  Thus – the "grids."  The official name for the grids is the "medical vocational guidelines."

Under the grids, you can be found disabled even if you can still perform certain types of work. By contrast, cliamants under the age of 50 generally would not be found disabled if they could do any work.

The grids are a series of tables that consider these factors. You can look at the grids by clicking on the link.

Example: Under grid rule 201.04, a 55 year old individual who can perform sedentary (sit down) work who is a high school graduate, with an unskilled work background and who does not have the skills to perform semi-skilled or skilled work would be found disabled under the grids.

Note that the grid rules only apply if your medical condition limits your physical capacity for work.  You cannot "grid out" for a mental health problem.

Technorati Tags: grid rules, medical-vocational guidelines, sedentary work capacity, light work capacity, social security disability

Post from: Social Security Disability Blog

What are the "Grid" Rules and Where Can I Find Them?