How to Win a Social Security Disability Hearing
After you have received an initial denial of your claim, you have a right to file an appeal and request a hearing before an administrative law judge. The Social Security Administration is required to send you a notice at least 75 days in advance of your hearing date. Both before that notice and following it, you should be preparing for your hearing.
Gather and submit additional medical evidence.
If you want to know how to win a Social Security disability hearing, you should understand the importance of continuing your medical care for your disabling condition while your claim is pending. Submit any new medical evidence before the hearing for the administrative law judge to review. You must also submit all new medical evidence no later than five days before your hearing.
Draft and submit a brief.
Your attorney can draft and submit a brief to the administrative law judge to show how your medical evidence applies to the Social Security Administration’s disability standards. A brief should be submitted no later than 10 days prior to your hearing to give the judge enough time to review it.
Observe appropriate decorum.
Social Security disability hearings are not as formal as court proceedings, but it is still important for you to act and dress appropriately. Make sure that your clothes are neat and modest and that you have showered. Show up a few minutes early to meet your lawyer, and make sure that you follow all of the directions from the judge about what to do.
Be prepared for questions.
Listen carefully to all of the questions that you are asked by the administrative law judge. Bring your application and your medical evidence with you so that you can refer to it. Your lawyer will help you prepare for any questions you might be asked in advance of your hearing.
Bring witnesses.
Your attorney might suggest that you bring someone to testify for you about how your disability affects your ability to complete the daily tasks of life. You might want to call a witness to testify about how your disability affects your ability to work and another one to testify about how your disability affects your ability to perform daily living tasks at home.
Be prepared to cross-examine the vocational expert.
A vocational expert will likely attend your hearing to give his or her opinion about how your disability affects your ability to work. In most cases, vocational experts are not helpful to claimants, so your attorney should be prepared to cross-examine a vocational expert who appears in your case.
If the administrative law judge thinks that your condition might be close to meeting a listed condition, a medical expert might also be present. However, medical experts attend disability hearings less frequently than vocational experts. The testimony of a medical expert can be helpful to your claim, so it is important for your attorney to ask the right questions if a medical expert attends your hearing.
Retain an experienced SSDI attorney.
You are much likelier to win your Social Security disability hearing if you retain a lawyer to represent you. Attorneys understand how Social Security disability hearings proceed and can anticipate the types of questions that the administrative law judge might ask you and your witnesses. A lawyer can also help you gather additional medical evidence to support the basis for your claim. Furthermore, a lawyer can follow up with a brief if anything needs to be clarified after your hearing if the judge allows it. Bringing an experienced attorney with you to your Social Security disability hearing greatly increases your chances of prevailing. Contact an experienced SSDI attorney at Ellis & Associates to schedule a free consultation at 800-MR-ELLIS.