Top 7 questions clients ask during our free consultation

Transcript

Let’s talk about the free consultation.

That is an opportunity for me to meet with a potential client and discuss their case. It also gives me an opportunity to determine what the strengths and weaknesses of that case may be and what we need to do to develop a strategy moving forward.

There are many questions that I’m asked during the consultation. I’d like to discuss a few of those.

Does my age play a role in my disability application?

Many times I’ll have a client ask me, “Does my age play a role in my disability application?” The answer to that question is yes.

Social Security does consider age as a vocational factor. At age 50. Social Security’s rules and regulations ease up some. They ease up even more at age 55 when it comes to how they evaluate your disability claim.

Here’s what I mean by that. Social Security basically evaluates a disability claim in five steps.

The first step is whether or not you’re performing gainful activity. The second step is whether or not you’re suffering from a severe impairment that will keep you out of work for at least 12 months, if not longer.

The third step is whether you meet a listing of impairment. The listings are black letter law that are broken down by body parts or by impairments, for example, neurological conditions, psychological conditions, or musculoskeletal conditions. If you don’t meet a listing, we move on to step four. Step four is whether or not you can return to your past relevant work.

Past relevant work under Social Security’s rules is work that you performed for at least the past 5 years, and you performed the work long enough to learn it. If Social Security determines that you’re unable to return to your past work, we then move on to the fifth and final step.

That step is whether or not there are other jobs, other occupations that you may be able to perform based on your age, your education, and your work history. If you’re under the age of 50, we have to deal with those last two steps, meaning that we have to eliminate your past work as well as any other type of work you might be able to perform. And that can be a little more difficult.

If you’re over the age of 50, the focus becomes on your past work and whether or not you have the physical ability to return to that work.

How much will it cost to hire an attorney?

Attorney fees are set by the Social Security Administration. They’re also referred to as a contingency fee. What that means is that we only collect an attorney fee if we win the case and if there’s back pay. Social Security administration sets that rate’s 25% of any back pay you may receive.

However, the fee is capped at $7,200. The only thing that our clients would be responsible for, win or lose, is the out-of-pocket expense in Social Security disability cases. Out of pocket expense basically amounts to one thing and one thing only, and that’s copying fees for medical records.

What is the onset date of disability?

Onset date of disability is essentially when you became unable to work. That can be the date that you last worked. So that could be a different date based on a change in your medical condition, a surgical procedure or something that worsened your condition to the point to where you realized you couldn’t go back to work.

What kind of medical evidence do I need?

Many times clients will come to me or during the consultation, they’ll say, well, my doctor has told me I’m disabled, has told me I’m unable to work. That’s good enough. Unfortunately, no, it’s not. We have to find and we work with our client to determine if there’s objective medical evidence that is a key to a disability case.

Objective evidence can be abnormal findings during a physical exam. It can be diagnostic testing, an MRI, CT scan, a nerve conduction study – testing that will support the severity of your condition. Opinion evidence is what your doctor or medical provider may have told you about your ability to work that can be obtained through a medical source statement.

Opinion evidence can be important in the Social Security case. However, it has to be supported by objective evidence to carry any weight. One tip I give my clients is that it’s very important to communicate with their medical providers. For clients who may suffer from a condition that happens periodically, like migraine headaches, a seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, where there’s flare ups, I recommend that my client keep a journal, a log of these flare ups, and take it with them when they see their medical provider.

Is my work history important?

Work history can be critical to a Social Security disability case, especially for individuals that are 50 and older. I want to know about the type of work that you’ve done, your job duties, and for how long you performed that job. When Social Security evaluates your work history, they’re gonna assign an exertional level as well as a skill level to your work.

For example, if you’ve been a working supervisor many times, Social Security may see the job title supervisor and automatically assume that that’s a desk job. However, digging beneath the surface and accurately completing the work history would indicate that as a working supervisor, you might have been on the floor lifting and carrying 50 to 75 pounds on your feet, standing most of the shift.

That’s why it’s important for the work history to be accurate and detailed.

What about other benefits I’m receiving?

Short-term disability benefits do not impact Social Security disability benefits. However, long-term disability benefits will have an impact on Social Security benefits. Many times if you’re receiving long-term disability benefits, you will have to reimburse the long-term disability insurance carrier part or all of your back pay.

If you’re receiving workers compensation benefits, you need to know that there can be a dollar for dollar offset with your Social Security benefits.

There’s two types of disabled veterans benefits, those that are service connected and non service connected. If you’re receiving service connected VA benefits, that has no impact on your Social Security benefit. However, nonservice benefits will offset a Social Security disability benefit.

Many times I will talk to clients who have received or receiving unemployment benefits and that can create a conflict. You can still file a disability application. However, you need to understand that if you file an unemployment claim, you’re basically saying that you’re ready, willing and able to work.

When you file a disability claim, you’re stating that you’re unable to work for at least 12 months, if not longer. So that can create a potential conflict. But that is something that we will help you work through. During the consultation, my client and I will talk about when to file the application.

There are several factors to be considered. When did you come out of work? When did your medical treatment began, and possibly when did your condition worsen?