The Social Security disability application process can be frustrating, especially when you have to do it and your health is suffering. You may not need to hire an attorney who specializes in Social Security cases, but there are good chances that you can find it to be beneficial if you do it.
Keep in mind that a Florence Social Security lawyer has the relevant experience handling the Social Security Administration. As a result, they are skilled at dealing with the various matters that can arise during the application process. This article explains why you must hire a social security disability lawyer.
The duty of a Social Security disability lawyer
If you decide to hire a Social Security disability lawyer, then they can work as a link between you and the Social Security Administration. No doubt, the Social Security disability application process can be complex and even the language they usually use is hard for an average person to understand.
This is the reason you need to find an experienced lawyer to be on your side, making sure that there is good communication with the Social Security Administration. Besides an attorney serving as your middleman, they can also do the following:
Do an initial review of the case
Regardless of the stage of the application process, a lawyer can carefully review your case. After reviewing all the details, your lawyer can determine the right approach needed for moving forward. An experienced disability lawyer can also help you to create a compelling story involving your case and even develop a proper strategy on how to win your case.
Perhaps one of the most crucial mistakes many people make while applying for the benefits of Social Security disability is to file an incomplete claim. Many of these applicants are denied in the initial stages of the application process. This is because of this incomplete application, so you need to hire a Social Security lawyer to make sure that you have filled in all the necessary details.
Gather medical evidence
Social Security disability cases can be won or lost based on the medical evidence you provide. When you sign a release for medical records, an experienced lawyer can help you to collect all the relevant medical evidence required for your application.
A disability lawyer can also review these medical records and may work with you to gather all missing medical tests. Besides, an attorney can sort through tons of documents to figure out the information that is important. Many attorneys can choose to work directly with your doctor or any healthcare provider to collect the supportive opinion letters or statements.
They can deal with the Social Security Administration on your behalf
The number of claims that the Social Security Administration handles is significant. Also, the application process is overwhelming, full of deadlines and other formalities. Hence, a Social Security attorney can communicate with the Social Security Administration on your behalf.
The Social Security Administration claims that just about 40 percent of all disability claims are usually approved at the initial application stage. Therefore, if you have a case that received an initial denial, you can decide to appeal the decision. There are various steps required in the appeal process, and all these need to be done within a specific period. A Social Security lawyer may assist you to navigate the appeal process.
Most disability claims are usually successful at the hearing stage. So if they have denied your disability benefits and appeal, then they can offer you a hearing where an administrative law judge hears it. Disability hearings can sometimes be stressful, so preparation is important.
A Social Security lawyer can make sure that you are prepared adequately for the hearing. You will need to speak yourself, but a disability attorney can represent you at the meeting. And, your attorney can ask your witnesses some questions and even address expert witnesses like vocational experts.
They know the medical evidence required to win
Another most important key to winning a disability claim is to have the proper medical evidence. Many of the Social Security disability applicants usually don’t understand exactly what to provide the Social Security Administration and can end up providing lots of irrelevant information with little of what matters.
On the other hand, applicants represented by attorneys are more likely to win their disability cases because disability lawyers and advocates understand how to develop the crucial evidence required for an approval for the specific medical condition you have. When a disability lawyer gets your case, they can review your file carefully to figure out whether or not there is a need to carry out additional tests or get more medical records.
The attorney can then work with you to get the required medical records and submit them timely to the Social Security Administration. The attorney can also ensure that all the relevant information is not sent, which is vital if your claim gets to the hearing stage. This is because an administrative law judge usually becomes irritated if they have to go through all the pages with irrelevant records.
They are good at communicating with healthcare providers
A supportive opinion from your physician is important to winning a disability claim. But some doctors cannot be willing to help disability applicants. There are various good reasons why some doctors can be reluctant to help. For example, a physician cannot be sure about how the Social Security disability operates or can be simply too busy to fill out forms. There are even some doctors who can have their opinions about the Social Security benefits to make them not ready to help. Also, a physician can simply not think that the applicant is disabled.
Physicians are sometimes likely to respond to another expert, such as a disability lawyer rather than their patients. Therefore, disability lawyers have experience handling medical professionals and are usually in a better position to address their questions than the applicant. This ability usually makes physicians more willing to assist.
Why you should hire a Social Security disability lawyer immediately
As explained earlier, you may decide to handle the Social Security disability application process yourself, though the chances of approval can significantly increase when working with a lawyer. Some people can be skeptical about hiring a lawyer because they can already be struggling financially. But you don’t need to pay a Social Security attorney until you win your case.
By now you may be aware that disability attorneys are experts when it comes to the hearing process. They have years of experience handling the appeal hearing process, so this experience gives the lawyers specialized skills required to win your appeal. Even better, experienced disability lawyers understand how to work through the process properly, meaning there are few extra challenges.
Disability lawyers are also known as administrative law judges in a specific district. This can be crucial because the lawyer knows how each administrative law judge enjoys hearing to be done and whether the judge has any biases on certain medical conditions. So this foreknowledge can allow the lawyer to prepare your hearing in the best way possible suitable for the specific administrative law judge assigned to hear your case.
It’s not uncommon to find that some applicants’ medical records have information that can damage their cases. Lawyers usually consider these as bad facts. In most cases, these bad facts can come from a doctor’s opinion by stating that you are not disabled or even that you are exaggerating the symptoms.
Quite often, you may not have seen a physician for several years or have not been consistent in following a treatment plan, so all these can harm your application. Regardless of the details of the bad facts, a disability lawyer usually can confront and explain all the issues to the Administrative Law Judge to reduce damage to your case.
A disability attorney can also cross-examine the vocational expert. Remember that vocational experts refer to the professionals that the Social Security Administration hires to testify at hearings. Therefore, these experts can talk about the type of work they believe you can do because of your medical condition.
At the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge can ask the vocational expert various questions called hypotheticals. Therefore, these questions are based on your documented symptoms to figure out the kinds of jobs you can do. If the vocational expert testifies that you can still work, then the Administrative Law Judge can always deny your claim.
This is also the time when a disability attorney comes in handy as they are trained to mitigate negative testimony that is presented by the vocation experts and to give supportive opinions. As you can see, this skill needs knowledge of the complex way involved in different jobs as well as the skills required to do them.
Regardless of the stage of your Social Security disability application process, it’s always a good idea to consult a disability attorney for guidance. Attorneys have the experience and skills needed to win your case, but you should choose a lawyer who is reliable and has the reputation of winning the Social Security disability cases.
