Benefits

The most important thing your Ocala disability attorney will do for you is prepare you for your testimony. In the best-case scenario, you will be prepared well enough that your Ocala disability attorney will not have to ask many questions and your testimony will feature you speaking in a natural way. After the testimony, however, some important events do occur. Right after you complete your testimony, your Ocala disability lawyer will be permitted to question any witnesses that you have brought with you to the hearing. Bringing at least one witness to your hearing is important in corroborating what you have said, giving details about your disabilities and their effects on you, and/or to offer an alternative point of view…Read More

Understanding the process associated with Social Security disability hearings will help to demystify the hearing for you and ensure that you do not experience undue anxiety that might hurt your testimony and, therefore, your case. A qualified Ocala disability attorney will ensure that you are properly prepared for your hearing. Most Social Security disability hearings begin with the administrative law judge reciting the history of your Social Security disability claim as well as stating the issues on which a decision must be made. In many cases, the judge will offer a somewhat generic and broad statement as to how you would be able to be found disabled for Social Security Administration purposes: not being able to perform “substantial gainful activity…Read More

An Ocala disability lawyer will inform you that there are two similarities between state agency decisions about your Social Security disability claim and decisions made by Administrative Law Judges (ALJs): Disability decisions cannot be inconsistent with medical evidence; Listing of Impairments is a critical factor in determining disability. But important differences exist as to how each agency will make that determination: States typically do not consider anything other than the medical file and your Listing of Impairments. Impairments, if listed, meet federal disability guidelines. If not, the state agency has a pre-determined formula to determine your Residual Functional Capacity (the tasks you can actually perform). The vast majority of state agencies treat claimants with similar medical conditions identically, despite individual…Read More

Preparing to testify about your mental limitations can mean very different things depending on the particulars of your case. Your Ocala disability lawyer will be able to provide you more information about how to testify, but this article gives some general principles. Even if you have small-scale mental limitations, the matter still needs to be discussed with your Ocala disability lawyer well in advance of the hearing. If you have both mental limitations and physical impairments, the mental issues are still very important to discuss before the trial. There are some very specific issues that concern those who have both physical and mental issues. Those who have chronic and severe physical problems often develop emotional issues as well. In fact,…Read More

When you will be asked to testify about your educational and work history at your Social Security disability hearing, the judge will want to know about the job duties in your past employment, the job skills that you have, and the educational credentials that you have attained, if any. In terms of past work, you will be asked about the duties for which you were responsible at each position that you have held in the past 15 years. You will be questioned as to how much weight you were required to lift on the job and how much time per workday you had to sit, stand, and walk. Any difficulties that you have had at your former jobs due to…Read More

An experienced Ocala disability lawyer will prepare your case well and ensure that you and your witnesses testify in a way that helps your case. There is one thing over which your lawyer has no control, however, and that is the time that it takes to conduct a hearing and as how long it takes to receive a decision. Hearings are, as a rule, quite short, generally clocking in at about 60 minutes or less. Even on the longer side, they almost never exceed an hour and a half. The shortness of the hearing is starkly contrasted by how long it can and does take for a claimant to receive the written decision. Both you and Ocala disability attorney will…Read More

Most of the work that your Ocala disability attorney will do for you will consist of building your case in preparation for the hearing. On the legal side of things, this means preparing you and any other witnesses for testimony at the hearing as well as doing research into the law and the outcomes of similar cases. In terms of the medical part of your case, your Ocala disability attorney may look at scientific literature pertaining to your health issues, gather records, and obtain statements from your doctors. An experienced Ocala disability lawyer will prepare you well enough so that you can do most of the talking at the Social Security disability hearing. At a hearing, it is best if…Read More

Unlike the formal rooms that are characteristic of courthouses, Social Security hearing rooms are just small conference rooms. They sometimes have an American flag or the seal of the Social Security Administration in the way of official trappings. As with any other type of meeting room, they always have a large conference table. There will also be a desk that will sit slightly above the level of the main conference table; this is the judge’s desk. An optional addition is a small desk for the judge’s assistant, who will otherwise sit at the main conference table. Because every hearing is recorded, every Social Security hearing room is equipped with audio recording devices. In order to ensure that the recording made…Read More

In this article, Ocala disability lawyer CJ Henry will explain the first two levels of review of your claim for Social Security disability benefits. You can apply for Social Security disability benefits (but not for SSI disability) on the Internet, but most claimants apply by phone. You can also make an appointment with a Social Security Administration claims representative at your local Social Security office. You will be asked to provide basic information, which the claims representative will type into the computer and print out for you to sign. If you make a telephone appointment, then the claims representative will mail you the form for you to sign. Keep in mind that only you can sign this application; your Ocala…Read More

In deciding whether you qualify for Social Security disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will place great weight on objective medical findings and your treating doctor’s opinion. In this article, Ocala disability attorney CJ Henry will explain why those two elements are so important in the determination of your disability. 1. Objective Medical Findings In your Social Security disability claim, objective findings can play a major role in the evaluation of whether or not you’re disabled. However, if your impairment does not meet or equal an impairment included in Social Security’s Listing of Impairments, the Social Security Administration should not look solely to see if your objective medical findings correspond to its special medical criteria. Even the Social Security Administration…Read More