“I don’t need tough guys. I need more lawyers.”
— Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone understood the importance of hiring capable legal representation, however you don’t need to be the Godfather to need or afford a Social Security disability attorney. Because our fees depend on our clients winning their case, and the fees are limited to 25% of the retroactive lump-sum payment or $7,200, whichever is less, there is no out of pocket expenses for attorney’s fees until you win. However, the attorney’s fee still comes out of your hard-earned retroactive monthly payment. If you are unrepresented and you win your case, 100% of your retroactive payment goes straight into your bank account, and you will have saved up to $7,200. It doesn’t matter if you are the Godfather — this is a substantial sum of money.
Therefore many people ask, “What are my chances of winning my case if I hire a lawyer?” The short answer: hiring a disability lawyer increases your chances of approval, but every claim for Social Security disability is unique, and the outcome depends on many factors such as your age, education, work experience, and medical record. Although we are biased, we feel it is generally in your interest to hire a disability attorney as soon as possible on your disability claim for reasons that this article will explore.
Understanding Disability Benefits
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is a vital source of financial support for millions of Americans, providing over $1.5 trillion in disability and retirement benefits annually. In fact, it’s highly likely that you or someone you know relies on Social Security.
While Social Security pays a retirement benefit to eligible workers who claim it after turning 62, those who cannot work due to a disability may be eligible for relief in the form of a monthly disability payment from the SSA. The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is a lifeline to injured or disabled workers, bridging the gap in income between a worker’s disability and their retirement years. For many SSDI beneficiaries, the monthly disability payment is their primary source of income, preventing financial hardship and ensuring a more secure future. \If you win your disability case, you are eligible for a monthly payment from the Social Security Administration. Disability beneficiaries can receive a monthly payment any month prior to their full retirement date (age 67 if born after 1960).
The Importance of Legal Representation
Because of the complex nature of the rules and regulations that govern the Social Security disability program, many disability claimants decide to hire an attorney to assist with the paperwork and deadlines. The benefits of hiring an attorney include:
Access to expertise in disability law
An attorney who specializes in Social Security disability law has unique experience practicing before the Social Security Administration. This expertise includes understanding the qualifications for Social Security disability, deadlines for filing important paperwork including appeals, general wait times between the application and hearing before an administrative law judge, or ALJ, (if applicable), the requirements for submitting evidence before an ALJ, how to appear and testify at a Social Security disability hearing, how to cross examine government witnesses including medical experts and vocational experts, and how to appeal unfavorable ALJ decision to the appeals council.
Guidance in gathering and presenting evidence
An attorney can help you determine what evidence to submit, how far back you should go in terms of your medical records, and what medical providers are relevant to your case. For example, a disability attorney can help you decide on your alleged onset date,” which tolls the beginning of the relevant time period in your case. Because Social Security does not pay retroactive pay over 12 months prior to the month of your application, and due to the fact that Social Security cannot pay disability benefits for periods in which you are working (even if you are working while technically medically disabled under Social Security definitions), the adjudicators will not review remote medical evidence dated prior to the relevant time period in your case.
With advances in electronic medical records, one negative side effect has been a substantial increase in the volume of medical records submitted to the SSA for individuals applying for disability. If a Social Security adjudicator receives 2,000 pages of records, and only 200 of those pages pertain to the period of alleged disability from work, the odds increase that they miss important evidence. Therefore, on the application, you should only provide medical information related to the relevant time period in order to make it easier on the SSA to adjudicate your case. You should consult an attorney if you have questions about which physicians to list on your application.
Consulting a disability attorney also helps you understand the importance of timing a disability application after your alleged onset date.
Experience with disability claims
An experienced disability attorney brings a wealth of knowledge about the disability application process to the table. Drawing from their experience, they can help with all aspects of your application, from the timing of your disability application to preparing for the long wait for a favorable outcome by providing you with the average current wait times for disability cases. They can also advise you about the impact of certain decisions such as the filing for unemployment, State Disability Insurance, Long-Term Disability, or early retirement. A disability attorney can also discuss the impact of returning to full- or part-time work while your claim for Social Security disability is pending. By engaging an attorney to help you navigate the twists and turns of the long disability process, you are improving your chances of success and avoiding unnecessary unforced errors.
An understanding of SSA processes
As with many legal processes, the Social Security disability process contains a multitude of rules, regulations, and deadlines. By hiring an attorney, you can rest assured that you will not miss a critical deadline and face unnecessary delays in fixing a mistake. If you do miss an appeal deadline, a disability attorney can help you decide whether you have a good cause reason for missing the deadline, rather than filing a new application for disability. For more details about the rules, regulations, and other inside-baseball information about the Social Security disability process, download our free eBook.
Assistance with the appeals process
Most claims for Social Security disability involve multiple levels of appeal. A disability attorney can ensure the deadlines are met to file the first appeal (a request for reconsideration), the second appeal (a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge), the third appeal (appealing an unfavorable ALJ Decision to the Appeals Council), and if necessary, a fourth appeal (filing a lawsuit in Federal District court in response to an Appeals Council denial). Many disability claimants give up after receiving the initial denial, or fail to read all the legalese and boilerplate in the decision noting their right to appeal with legal representation. Those who engage legal counsel ensure that their rights to appeal are preserved and they are able to make informed decisions about proceeding to higher levels of appeal.
Attorneys can also assist if your case is more nuanced. For example, in some cases, the SSA will issue a partially favorable decision, meaning that the claim is approved but for different dates than alleged. A partially favorable decision can result in the loss of potential past due benefits or the loss of ongoing benefits and Medicare in the event of a partially favorable closed period of disability, meaning the claim is approved for a specified period of time but disability ended at the end of the “closed period.” This is due to evidence of medical improvement or the performance of substantial gainful activity.
A disability lawyer can help you understand the merits of appealing a partially favorable decision, including how many months of potential past due benefits are at stake with the appeal. They can also inform you about the risks involved with appealing a partially favorable decision, namely the fact that you are also appealing the “favorable” parts of the decision, therefore opening up the possibility of having your case denied and having to pay back all benefits you received while waiting for your appeal. If you do ultimately lose your appeal and receive an overpayment letter, your disability attorney can advise you about your right to request a waiver of the overpayment.
Help with hearing preparation
Arguably one of the most important functions of a disability lawyer is the pre-hearing preparation phase. Words such as “hearing,” “judge,” and “cross-examination” are scary. Many disability claimants understandably feel like they are on trial in the lead-up to the hearing day. An experienced disability attorney will prepare you for the types of questions to expect from the judge, how administrative hearings are different from courts you see on TV or in the movies, and will often have familiarity with the judge assigned to your case. The attorney will also submit all of your medical evidence prior to the hearing, thus preventing any unnecessary delays due to the need for a supplemental hearing to gather and submit medical evidence.
Contingency fee basis
Many people facing a long period of unemployment due to a disability may wonder, “How can I afford an attorney?” Luckily, Social Security regulations take into account the fact that people are unable to work due to a disability, and put regulations on attorneys who represent Social Security disability claimants. Therefore, disability attorney’s fees are entirely contingent, or dependent upon, their clients not only winning their case, but also receiving a lump sum back payment.
Further, no matter how much money the clients are owed by the Social Security Administration, an SSDI lawyer’s fees are capped at the maximum amount allowable by the commissioner of the SSA ($7,200 in the year 2023, increasing to $9,200 in 2024). There are never any out-of-pocket costs, expenses, retainer fees, or advances. If Social Security favorably decides your case, attorney’s fees are automatically deducted from your one-time lump sum retroactive payment, and therefore you do not need to pay your attorney directly.
Effective communication with the SSA
Social Security is a labyrinthian system. It can be difficult to communicate directly with the SSA and know how to submit information. A trained disability attorney can take out the guesswork by submitting important documents on your behalf, and advising you on the preferred methods for submitting information to the SSA. Similarly, a local attorney will have experience practicing before ALJs, who each have unique communication styles and personal preferences for communicating with lawyers and claimants.
Costs and Fees
Hiring a disability lawyer can be a strategic investment in your future and is a practically risk-free investment as they generally operate on a contingency fee basis, meaning you only incur legal fees if your case is successful, with no upfront costs involved at LaPorte Law Firm.
While legal fees in general can vary, here’s a breakdown of what you can expect when working with LaPorte Law Firm for your Social Security disability claim:
Consultation fees
At LaPorte Law Firm, we never charge a fee for a consultation. All of our consultations are free of charge, even if we do not proceed with representation.
Filing fees
LaPorte Law Firm does not charge any fees for filing your medical records, statements, or legal briefs at the administrative level of appeals. The administrative level encompasses the application stage, the reconsideration stage, the hearing stage, and appeals with the Appeals Council. The only instance where a filing fee is applicable is the filing of a federal district court lawsuit in response to an Appeals Council denial. The filing fee in the Northern District of California is $405 to file a lawsuit.
A lawsuit in Federal District court is a separate type of case that is handled on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, if you are hiring LaPorte Law Firm for assistance with your claim for Social Security disability at the administrative level before the Social Security Administration, there are zero filing fees.
Travel expenses
There are no fees for travel. Now that most cases before an administrative law judge are handled remotely via video or telephone, Social Security lawyers do not have the same amount of travel expenses as pre-COVID, when it was more common to appear in person before an ALJ. Even if you have an in-person hearing, there are no travel fees or expenses at LaPorte Law Firm.
Legal expenses
LaPorte Law Firm does not charge any fees for legal expenses such as copying medical records, postage, and travel.
Cost of appeals
At LaPorte Law Firm, there are no additional costs or increases in attorney’s fees if your application, reconsideration request, or request for hearing is denied. There are also no additional fees or costs if we take your case to the Appeals Council and you win your claim at a second hearing on remand (a remand occurs when the Appeals Council agrees that the ALJ committed a legal error, and orders a new hearing “on remand” to issue a new decision).
Costs if you lose
The best part of a contingency fee agreement is that you do not suffer any out-of-pocket costs or fees if you lose your case. Because our fees depend on you not only winning your case but also winning retroactive money due to Social Security’s error in denying your case, we do not charge any fees if your case is unsuccessful for any reason.
Fee agreements
LaPorte Law Firm uses a straightforward fee agreement that discusses our fee structure and outlines the scope of our representation. We take pride in managing our client’s expectations so there are no unnecessary surprises. It should also be noted that the Social Security Administration and administrative law judges must approve the fee agreement in order for us to receive attorney’s fees in any matter, so our fee agreements must comply with the rules and regulations pertaining to representing claimants before the SSA.
Success Rates with a Lawyer
At LaPorte Law Firm, we do not keep track of our success rate. Understandably, many of our clients ask us, “What are my chances?” at the initial application. However, in our experience with representing thousands of clients for over 40 years, we have learned that each case is completely unique. As much as we would like to, it’s impossible for us to provide a specific chance of success to each of our clients. Because the Social Security Administration is staffed by individuals who make mistakes and erroneously deny cases every day, a win/loss statistic isn’t useful. Our only policy is that we only take cases that we feel are meritorious, based on our understanding of the Social Security disability rules as they apply to each case and circumstance, and we zealously represent each client until the case is complete.
While the SSA does not have publically available statistics regarding the success rates of disability claimants who are represented on an initial application for Social Security disability or at the reconsideration stage, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that disability claimants represented at the hearing level are nearly three times as likely to receive a favorable ALJ decision when represented by an attorney. It must be noted, though, that the GAO study only examined claimants who hired a disability attorney for representation at the hearing stage, so there are no publicly available statistics documenting the chances of winning on a disability application or reconsideration (the first appeal prior to the hearing with the judge).
We do not like to brag at LaPorte Law Firm, but we can confidently say that you will increase your chances of success by hiring an attorney, and that the statistics back this up.
Choosing the Right Lawyer
Choosing the right lawyer is crucial for navigating the complex application process. To make an informed decision, you must take the following steps:
Select a lawyer who takes the time to understand your case
Unlike scenes from the movies where an attorney gives a long eloquent speech about the law, a good attorney asks a lot of questions and mostly listens. At LaPorte Law Firm, our clients do not hire us to hear us talk. At the initial meeting, we ask our clients many questions about their work background and disabling conditions. This is the opportunity for us to learn about you. We are only effective as your advocate if we understand your case and know your background.
By the time we appear before the judge, there should be no surprising revelations. A hearing is not an episode of Matlock where the guilty party spontaneously confesses before a shocked audience. Rather, a hearing is our chance to present the judge with the most important pieces of evidence and testimony in a short period of time. If we spend all of our pre hearing meetings pontificating about our takes on Social Security disability law, rather than learning more about the daily lives of our clients, we will have failed in our job. We always take the time to explain how Social Security law applies to a specific set of facts, but the focus is always on the client.
Make sure they have extensive experience in disability law
Lawyers practice in one specific area, learning the esoteric machinations of the law. For the vast majority of our clients, we are the first attorney they have ever interacted with, and our clients have no background in Social Security disability law. An attorney trained in Social Security disability law can provide the expertise necessary to obtain a favorable decision. As with a trusted local car mechanic, it is sometimes better to hire someone rather than try to fix it without the proper tools and training.
Check the lawyer’s track record and reputation
As with finding a local car mechanic, you should always do some research to see what a disability lawyer’s clients are saying. To see what our clients are saying about our firm, check out our Google listing for our San Jose and Oakland offices. And we are admittedly biased, but we believe we have a strong reputation in the Bay Area with disability judges, nonprofit organizations, and most importantly, our clients.
Assess their communication skills
At LaPorte Law Firm, we take pride in communicating complex legal concepts to our clients in plain English. We do not use fancy words to try to show off. We know how it feels to go to the mechanic and have no idea what he is talking about. We understand that this may be the first time you have ever interacted with an attorney, and that most people have no reason to know the strange terms and jargon employed by the Social Security Administration. We try to foster a relaxed, open communication environment so that our clients feel comfortable sharing private parts of their lives with us, which, in turn, enables us to effectively represent our clients.
Inquire about their fees and costs
Prior to hiring an attorney, you should always have a clear understanding of the fee structure and the scope of representation. Our fees are listed directly on our website.
Know the lawyer’s location
While Social Security disability law is a federal area of law, and therefore attorneys can practice in all 50 states and territories, it is important to consider an attorney’s location when choosing who to hire. Admittedly, we are biased, but we believe we have acquired specific expertise by practicing in the Bay Area for over 40 years. This includes appearing before the same judges in hundreds of cases and requesting medical records from medical facilities throughout the area. We believe this adds value to our clients located in the Bay Area and throughout California. In our experience, you don’t need tough guys when dealing with a large federal agency like the Social Security Administration, you need a lawyer.
Take the next step toward securing your disability benefits with LaPorte Law Firm. Our experienced attorneys are dedicated to fighting for your rights and maximizing your chances of success. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us guide you through every step of your case.
FAQs
A study conducted by the Government Accountability Office found that people who hired an attorney nearly tripled their odds of success. However, the study only examined claimants who hired a disability attorney for representation at the hearing stage, so there are no publicly available statistics documenting the chances of winning on a disability application or reconsideration (the first appeal prior to the hearing with the judge).
We charge zero upfront fees, and are only paid attorney’s fees if you win your case.
There are many factors such as your age, education, and work experience that impact the chances of success on your disability application. Another critical factor is the quality of your medical treatment, including the consistency and frequency with which you visit your doctors for your medical conditions.
Yes! One of the best reasons to hire a disability lawyer is to assist with the timely filing of a denied claim.
Unfortunately, your case is not expedited by hiring a disability attorney. However, a trained disability attorney will ensure that all of the important deadlines are met in your case, ensuring there are no additional delays due to missed deadlines. The attorney will also ensure that all important documents are submitted at the hearing level, allowing your hearing to be scheduled without delay and avoiding added wait times due to being unprepared at your first hearing with a judge.