I am glad you found us.  I have a few suggestions if you are running around looking for help in your disability case.

First, get a qualified attorney. Disability law is extremely complex and the system is not always fair. The typical disability case is worth more than $250,000. Do you want to throw that money away? I think not.

Get professional help now. Click on "Contact Us" to talk to me, or contact NOSSCR or NADR for help finding other qualified attorneys.

Second, it is an extremely bad idea to post the specifics of your case here. Your decision maker (or adversary) might read your posting and draw inferences you did not consider. Some judges and others from the Social Security Administration visit Connect daily. Do not introduce your case to them here. I suggest you go over your ideas with an attorney and ask whether they should be posted on Connect before you post them. Failure to do so may kill your case.

Third, you will usually have no idea who answers your questions. Some of the posters on Connect are brilliant attorneys and judges. Some other posters on Connect pretend to know something. You might not be able to tell the difference between the two kinds of posters.  Even if the poster is an attorney, he or she is not your attorney.  That is, writing or reading something on Connect is not legal advice, it is something on a posting board that might be seriously wrong.  Don't rely upon what you read on this web site until you check it with a competent attorney who has agreed to provide legal advice to you and who can explain why he or she is right.

Fourth, some answers may appear quite reasonable to everyone, while being extremely harmful to your case. Why? Nobody here knows all of the facts of your case. You may get a great answer to an issue you thought was important, which kills your case based upon an issue you did not catch.

Fifth, you are likely asking the wrong questions. Spotting the important issues in a legal case takes many years of experience. You cannot get years of experience by asking questions, especially on the Internet.

So, please get professional legal assistance for your serious legal questions.

Sixth, try not to post big multi-part questions. If you still feel like asking a question after getting through all of the above, keep it simple! Asking about your diabetes, federal court remand, carpal tunnel syndrome, bi-polar disorder, and divorce settlement all in one question will usually earn the dreaded “get an attorney” answer. You are more likely to get useful on-point answers if you ask one question at a time in several postings. Break your query into small segments.

Finally, don't have a thin skin and please don't take seemingly harsh answers personally. It is extremely difficult to write a paragraph or two in a reply that properly conveys intent and tone. On the other hand, it is very easy to read an emotion that is not actually there. Misunderstandings are common. If you get slammed around a little, please join us as we keep in mind that here in cyberspace we are nobody special.

“Ya but” the hearing is tomorrow and I can’t wait to find an attorney because I’ll be evicted!

You might not be thinking this through if you are thinking about dashing off to a hearing without competent counsel. Rushing to a hearing now that might lose, will be less effective in resolving your misery than having a hearing later, that you have a better chance of winning. 

If the hearing is imminent, you may wish to appear at the hearing and request a postponement for the purpose of obtaining representation.

HALLEX I-2-6-52 (A) requires the ALJ to grant one postponement to obtain representation.  Failure to grant such a request is rare.  Good cause must be shown for a second such request, and to my knowledge it is not likely to be granted.  If you ask for more time to find representation, use that time well.

That said, if you must run into a hearing on your own, here are a few suggestions. The following suggestions assume you are a person born in 1985, or so.  The rules are different for children, folks aged 45 or order who are illiterate in English, or for some folks over age 49.

Keep in mind this is a very complex area of law, and you are essentially clueless about the correct legal standards for your case.  This is somewhat like showing up at the shootout at the OK Corral armed with a pocket knife:

1. Get to the hearing at least an hour early and read the entire hearing record.
2. Make a list of all of the therapist, doctor, clinic, and hospital visits that are not up-to-date in the hearing record.
3. Ask the judge to update the record, and tell the judge exactly where to get the desired records.
4. Tell the truth about everything. If you are not sure, can’t tell, don’t know, don’t make up an answer. Say you are not sure and leave it at that.
5. Don’t let the judge put words in your mouth, tell the truth, and don’t be coerced.
6. Make a list of all of your impairments and limitations. Tell the judge the truth about all of your limitations and explain to the judge exactly why your medically-determined limitations (in combination) keep you from performing the simplest full-time job you can imagine, such as a ticket taker at a parking lot, or the job of a pimply-faced teenager at McDonald's who takes orders and makes change at the drive-up window.
7. Explain to the judge exactly why your medically-determinable impairments and their limitations (in combination) prevent you from performing any of the jobs you have done in the last fifteen-years on a regular full-time basis.
8. Keep in mind the fact that your local labor market stinks will not help your case. That nobody will hire you is not an element you are trying to prove.
9. Take your meds with you and explain honestly all of the side effects, if any. Keep in mind that if your regular treatment reduces your symptoms, you should be sure to explain why it is you cannot work when your medication and treatment are working.
10. Explain honestly the reasons you have missed any medication or treatment, i.e. no money, no medical insurance.
11. Explain to the judge honestly all of the limitations your impairments have created in your ability to take care of yourself.
12. Look carefully at what you already wrote to the Social Security Administration and if anything needs explanation, honestly explain it.
13. Dress like you are going to see somebody important. You are.

This is an extremely simplified list, and it should never, ever, be relied upon as a substitute for qualified counsel. I could increase this list ad infinitum.

Peace,

David F. Traver
Attorney
Traver & Traver, S.C.
P.O. Box 188
North Prairie, WI 53153-0188 
262-594-2096

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