An Administrative Law Judge is the person who will oversee your Social Security Disability hearing. An Administrative Law Judge does have some differences from a non-administrative judge, but they should be treated with the same respect. For example, an ALJ should still be referred to as "your honor". Like anyone, how an Administrative Law Judge treats you and your attorney depends on which ALJ you get for your hearing. Some judges are very kind and casual while others are mo

The Social Security Administration has announced within the last week or so that there will not be a a cost of living increase increase for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients in 2016. So what does this mean exactly? Well generally the cost of living for Americans increases every year due to inflation. Because of this, Social Security and SSI recipients usually get an increase each year in their monthly payments according to a formula created in the So

As I stated in my previous post, in step 5, Social Security determines whether a claimant can perform any work in the national economy. In step 5, Social Security has the burden to prove this. To aid in this process, Social Security created Medical-Vocational Guidelines or "grids". These grids have three sets of tables which apply to claimants able If you would like to learn more about grids and how they may apply to your case or someone you know, the best thing to do is to v

​ Social Security uses a sequential evaluation process that essentially acts like a flow chart for SSDI and adult SSI cases; meaning if you pass one step, you move on to the next evaluation. The steps are broken down below: Step 1 - Work Is the claimant earning enough money working to be considered "substantial gainful activity"? If so, claim is denied. If not, move on to step 2. Step 2 - Severity Is the claimant's disability severe enough and meet durational requirements? If

For those people filing for disability due to mental impairments, a common phrase they may hear is "GAF score". So what is a GAF score and what is it used for? GAF stands for Global Assessment of Functioning and a GAF score is a way for therapists to characterize a person's general functioning in life. A score of 100 to 91 indicates "superior functioning", 90-81 indicates "good functioning", 80-71 indicates "no more than slight impairment", 70-61 indicates "some mild symptoms

I have spoken to many clients who call me very concerned about a letter they got from Social Security. The letter is telling them Social Security set up an appointment for them to see a doctor. Unfortunately, claimants often have a serious mistrust of Social Security and the Disability process so they do not know whether to ignore this This appointment is called a Consultative Examination (CE). Social Security usually schedules CE's early in the application process to gather

When most people think about court or a hearing, their mind immediately pictures a Law & Order episode: massive courtroom, dozens of people watching, and plenty of lawyers yelling at each other and witnesses. Thankfully, a Social Security Disability hearing is nothing like what you see on television. A Disability hearing is much more relaxed. It takes place in essentially a conference room with you, your attorney, the judge, an expert or two, and a court reporter. The judge m

I have had a couple conversations in the last few weeks with people who cannot work, but do not qualify for Social Security Disability. This is a very difficult concept to understand, and even more difficult to accept. As I have said before, there are two different kinds of Social Security Disability. One is SSI, which is a needs-based program that requires minimal income and assets to qualify. The second is SSDI, which is essentially based off a claimant's recent work histor