Appeal

One of the most important factors in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) disability determination is whether your statements are consistent. This is precisely why you should consult with a Florida disability lawyer prior to filing your claim and getting adequate help to prepare your application. The disability examiner will evaluate the consistency of your statements in describing your pain and other symptoms in your application for benefits, to your doctors, and to anyone else you speak with. If the disability examiner finds any inconsistent statements, it will be a red flag that you are being untruthful about your medical impairment and/or the extent of your pain and symptoms. As such, your Florida disability lawyer will advise you to be honest…Read More

If your Social Security disability hearing will involve a vocational expert, your Ocala disability attorney may decide to brief you on the role of the vocational expert (VE) in your case and his or her duties in court. Their testimony serves several purposes, but vocational experts should not overstep certain boundaries. Duties of the Vocational Expert A vocational expert testifies at a Social Security disability hearing before the administrative law judge (ALJ) in order to provide him or her with vocational information that will assist any decisions regarding your ability to perform work despite impairment. The ALJ will ask the VE certain questions, such as: Is the claimant capable of performing past relevant work? If the claimant is not capable…Read More

As a Florida Social Security disability claimant, you will most likely have to testify at a hearing before an administrative law judge.  If I am your Ocala disability attorney, I will spend plenty of time with you before your hearing preparing you to testify.  However, here I want to caution you to avoid making these two common mistakes in your hearing testimony. Don’t attempt to explain the medical issues in your case. Some claimants want to tell the ALJ all about their diagnosis and other medical issues. Testimony like this from you usually does not help your case.  Your Ocala disability lawyer will provide the ALJ with your the medical records, doctors’ reports, and other medical evidence. Therefore, do not…Read More

At your Florida Social Security disability hearing, we will most likely be trying to prove two facts:  (1) that you are unable to perform your “past relevant work;” and (2) that you are unable to perform other jobs considering your remaining work capacity, age, education, and experience. Past relevant work. As for this first fact, we need to prove that you cannot do any job you had during the past 15 years for long enough to learn it.  Jobs that you had for less than 30 days don’t count.  I will ask you to tell the ALJ about the easiest job that you performed during the preceding 15 years. The ALJ will need to understand the reason you can no…Read More

Most applicants for Florida Social Security disability benefits must show that they can no longer perform work they had previously done and that they cannot do any other work. In determining whether an applicant can perform any other work, the applicant’s age is an important consideration for the Social Security Administration. In fact, the Social Security guidelines are less stringent for claimants 55 and older. Medical-Vocational Guidelines for applicants 55 or older The Medical-Vocational Guidelines are rules utilized by the Social Security Administration to determine what other work you can do. These rules are favorable to those over 55 years of age because they recognize that if you are older and your medical condition limits your level of exertion, it…Read More

Whether you are capable of performing your “past relevant work” may be an issue in your Social Security disability case.  If the answer is yes, you will not be disabled.  In general, “past relevant work,” includes all jobs you did during the past 15 years for long enough to learn how to do them (generally 30 days). When your ability to do former jobs is an issue, the administrative law judge will be interested in the answer to these three questions: What are the physical and mental demands of your former work as you actually performed it? What are the physical and mental demands of your former work as generally required by employers throughout the national economy? Can you meet…Read More

The success of your Florida Social Security disability case may depend on how good a job your Ocala disability attorney does in preparing you to testify.  Your Ocala disability attorney must prepare you to describe details about how your impairment affects your daily activities.  The details you provide in your testimony can often what tips the decision in your favor. At your hearing, the administrative law judge will ask you about your activities. If you testify that you can perform a wide range of activities (walking, shopping, laundry, gardening, cooking and cleaning, going on vacations, etc.), the judge may find that you are not disabled because you are able to do too much. Even though it may initially appear that…Read More

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits if you are under the age of 50, you will likely need to prove you cannot perform most sedentary jobs.  Sedentary work is the physically easiest type of work recognized by the Social Security Administration.  Even so, sedentary jobs require the ability to sit for extended periods and do some walking and standing.  As discussed in the previous post, sitting, walking, and standing limitations can significantly reduce the number of sedentary jobs you can perform. Sedentary jobs also typically require a certain capacity to manipulate objects with the hands and fingers.  Proof that you lack the requisite dexterity can help to establish that there are few sedentary jobs that you can perform. Specifically,…Read More

If your initial application for Florida Social Security disability benefits is denied, your denial letter is a key piece of the puzzle that will assist your Ocala disability lawyer in pursuing your appeals. Make sure to save all your denial letters and show them to your Social Security attorney. Your denial letter contains important information that will help your Ocala Social Security disability attorney determine whether your claim for disability benefits was denied in error and, if that is the case, how best to address that error on appeal. For example, your denial letter may say that your Florida Social Security disability claim was denied because you are able to “engage in normal activities.”  This is Social Security’s way of…Read More

As an experienced Florida Social Security disability lawyer, I suggest that you keep at least one symptom diary to assist you in obtaining disability benefits in Florida. What is a symptom diary? A symptom diary can come in many written forms: notebook, journal, wall calendar, chart, or spreadsheet. Routinely recording the nature (frequency, duration, intensity, etc.) of your symptoms and the impact of your symptoms as they occur will serve as your “symptom diary.” For example, pain is a disabling symptom of many impairments that result in Social Security benefits for Florida disability claimants. A pain diary will allow you to track your pain on a daily basis including where the pain localized, the intensity of the pain on a…Read More