Why Do Disability Claimants With Lawyers Have a Better Chance of Winning Benefits?

Disability applicants who hire an attorney to handle their Social Security disability (SSD) or SSI disability claim are more likely to be approved than those who don't. The reasons for this are many, and knowing them may help you decide if hiring an attorney is the right choice for you.

Disability Attorneys Understand the Medical Evidence Needed to Win

The single most important factor to winning a claim is having the right medical evidence. Applicants frequently don't know exactly what to give the Social Security Administration (SSA) and may end up submitting too much irrelevant information and too little of what matters.

Represented applicants are more likely to win because, in part, disability attorneys know how to develop the evidence needed for an approval for that client's particular medical conditions. When a disability attorney gets a case, he or she reviews the applicant's file carefully to determine whether any additional tests or medical records are necessary. The attorney will then work with the applicant to get the necessary records and submit them on time to the SSA. The attorney will also make sure that irrelevant information is not submitted, which is important if the claim goes to the hearing level, because administrative law judges (ALJs) often become aggravated if they have to sift through pages of irrelevant records.

Disability Attorneys Are Skilled at Communicating With Medical Providers

A supportive opinion from your doctor(s) is vital to winning a disability claim. However, doctors are sometimes unwilling to help disability applicants. There are many different reasons why doctors may not want to help; for example, a doctor may be unsure about how the disability process works or may be too busy to fill out forms. Some doctors may have personal opinions about Social Security benefits that make them unwilling to help. Also, a doctor simply may not believe the applicant is disabled.

Doctors are sometimes more likely to respond to another "professional," like a disability attorney, rather than to their own patients. A disability attorney has experience dealing with medical professionals and is often better able to address their questions or concerns than the applicant. This ability often makes doctors more willing to help.

Disability Attorneys Are Experts at the Hearing Process

Another reason that applicants with lawyers are more likely to win is because most disability attorneys have extensive experience with the appeal hearing process. This experience gives attorneys the specialized skills needed to win your appeal. Experienced disability attorneys have also learned to work through the process correctly so there are as few additional difficulties as possible.

Knowing the ALJs

Disability attorneys are familiar with the ALJs in their district. This is important because the attorney understands, for example, how each ALJ likes a hearing to be conducted and whether the ALJ has any biases towards certain medical conditions. This foreknowledge allows the attorney to prepare for the hearing in the way best suited for the particular ALJ assigned to hear the case.

Handling "Bad" Facts

It is not uncommon for an applicant's medical records to contain information that can be harmful to the case (attorneys often call these "bad facts.") Sometimes "bad facts" come in the form of a doctor's opinion that states that the applicant is not disabled or that the applicant is exaggerating symptoms. Other times, an applicant has not seen a doctor for many years or has been inconsistent with following a treatment plan, either of which can hurt the applicant's chances. Regardless of the specifics of the "bad facts," disability attorneys are often able to confront and explain the issues to the ALJ in ways that minimize damage to the applicant's case.

Cross-Examining the Vocational Expert

Vocational experts (VEs) are experts hired by the SSA to testify at hearings about what work they think applicants can do in light their medical conditions. At the hearing, the ALJ will pose a series of questions to the VE called "hypotheticals." These questions use the applicant's documented symptoms to see what kinds of jobs an applicant can do. If the VE testifies that a claimant can still work, the ALJ will almost always deny the claim.

Disability lawyers are trained to counter negative testimony presented by the VE and to elicit supportive opinions. This skill requires an understanding of the complex way in which different jobs, and the skills needed to do them, are categorized.

Questioning the Applicant

During the hearing process, the ALJ will ask the applicant numerous questions to find out information such as:

• whether the applicant is being truthful about his or her symptoms
• the extent to which the applicant has been affected by the impairment
• the reason for any inconsistencies in the medical records
• the success or failures of treatment, and
• the specifics of a applicant's past work.

An attorney is also given the chance to ask the applicant questions. This is important because if there are any areas in the applicant's testimony that weaken the case, the attorney is trained to spot the problem and to use further questioning to correct or clarify the applicant's testimony. An attorney can also ask questions in a way that helps the applicant better explain, and the ALJ better understand, how the applicant is affected by the medical condition.

Disability Attorneys Know the Arguments Most Likely to Win a Case

There are numerous "arguments" that can be used to win a disability claim. An attorney can identify the argument that will work best because he or she knows and understands Social Security's rules and regulations on which they are based.

Once the attorney has decided on the best argument, he or she can determine how to meet the requirements of the rules and regulations using the facts of the case. This also means that an attorney can anticipate weaknesses in a case and decide how best to manage them. These arguments can be difficult to understand without being specifically trained in disability law.

Here are a few examples of arguments, or theories, for why an applicant is disabled:

• the combination of the applicant's impairments prevents the claimant from working
• the grid rules direct a finding of disabled
• the applicant's medical condition meets or equals a listing
• the applicant has both exertional and non-exertional impairments that prevent the claimant from working, or
• the vocational expert (VE) improperly used the applicant's past work when determining whether there were jobs the applicant could still do.

If You Want To Talk to an Attorney

If you decide that you want to talk with an experienced disability attorney, set up a free case evaluation with a disability attorney in your area.