Disability Lawyer Experiences?

[auntie_lovie]

My congestive heart failure is back (CHF), and my doc has advised me to apply for Social Security disability benefits. Has anybody been through the application process? Anybody have an attorney they can recommend? Didn't see anything in past posts..Thanks in advance!

Comments

[sgiffy]

I would go ahead and apply first, its pretty straight forward, then if you're denied you can go the attorney route if need be. My dad was denied at first, but I filed an appeal they went ahead and granted them without a hearing or anything. An attorney is going to take a third of the back benefits(basically the amount that accrues from the time you apply to the time you finally get them). That's a lot of money for filing out some paperwork.

[daydee]

I am on SSDI and was told when I was applying that a lawyer won't even look at your case unless you've already been denied once. That said, I never had to go down that route, as I was approved the first time. I don't know about CHF, but I have Cystic Fibrosis, and with that SSDI has a set of guidelines that they use for eligibility, which I met. There is a ton of paperwork involved, and my social worker who is a part of my medical team helped me fill out the paperwork. The main thing is to be very consistent in all of your answers. They will ask the same question several times in many different ways. Make sure that you are very clear about your limitations, and why they are such that you can't work.

[pocketlama]

This

[loree]

Wow, you are seriously the first person I know of who got approved for SSDI on the first application. You win at red tape.

[samemaha]

There are commercials for Binder and Binder, who seem to specialize in it.. IF you've been turned down.

[przxqgl]

i have just qualified for SSDI after 5 years of trying, in spite of the fact that i have a 3 inch hole in my skull. it's my impression that the standard routine for practically everyone is as follows: apply. be denied. appeal. be denied. get a lawyer and go before a judge. get approved. normally it takes about a year and a half to go through the process of application and appeal, and it takes about a year from the second denial and the time that you are scheduled to go before a judge, and it's usually 6 months to a year beyond that before your hearing is actually scheduled. my understanding is that if you make it to the hearing, it's a pretty good bet that you'll be approved, but it takes a while to get to that point.

my attorney was Tha Win, and he represented me well. i don't know how other attorneys are, but he's who i went with.

[mcfnord]

Tha Win FTW!

[mudcactus]

My husband got approved for it, but we had to wait several months. When we called, they said that they were "investigating his case" and that was the only answer we got for a long time. 9 months later, he was finally approved.

Also note, that as his spouse, I had to fill out paperwork as well. It asked me to describe his normal day, what he was capable of doing.