How Will Your SSD Case Be Handled by Your Attorney?

While there are subtle and major differences in how an SSD lawyer might handle your case, there are several key similarities between how SSD lawyers build and manage cases. If you’ve recently hired a lawyer to help with your social security claim, it’s important that you understand how the process works so that you can be better prepared and so that you can have a good relationship with your lawyer.

The Initial Call

When you first call for an attorney, you’ll have an initial consultation in order for the attorney to gather the facts about your situation and determine whether or not you actually have a case. You can either have this consultation over the phone or in person with your attorney. There are times where a trained staff member might conduct the initial interview before it’s brought to an actual legal representative. If your case has little chance of actually succeeding, then the attorney might decline your offer for representation.

Building Your Case

If an attorney does agree to take on your social security disability case, then the next step will be to gather evidence. This is done with medical records that will be requested and sent to the Social Security Administration (SSA) prior to your hearing.

You’ll have to give your attorney permission to access your medical records, and the attorney will most likely take on the initial cost for those records before you have to pay for them at the very end of your case. There’s also a chance that you might have to undergo additional medical examinations in order to build your defense. Your attorney might also ask for the opinion of a licensed physician of their choice in order to help further support your case, determine which medical records should be submitted and to decide which medical evidence might do more harm than good to your case. 

Preparing for Your Hearing

Once you have a date for your hearing, your SSD lawyer will help you to prepare. There’s a chance that the very first time you speak with you lawyer might not be until a month or two before your hearing. If so, you’ll most likely be in contact with assistants and paralegals before that. Either way, you’ll want to make sure that you have your medical records and any other necessary documents in front of you during the meeting should you need to refer to them.

During the preparation your attorney will go over the questions that you can expect to be asked during your hearing and help you to answer those questions properly. Be completely honest with your attorney about these questions, no matter how embarrassing the answers might be. The only way that they can help you is if you let them.

Arguing Your Case

Once your attorney has studied your letter of denial from the SSA, they’ll formulate a theory as to why you qualify for benefits. This can be done by proving that you meet the necessary conditions, proving that your limitations keep you from working or proving that you are unable to do even sedentary work.

Now that you have a better idea of how your case will be handled, you can help speed up the entire process and secure all of the necessary documents and information you need before your attorney asks you for them.