Do I need a disability attorney at a hearing?

It is not required to have an attorney for your disability hearing. However, having an attorney will help to ensure that you are given a fair hearing. A lawyer will make sure that all the right questions are asked at the hearing. Your lawyer will also help to organize your case and make it the most presentable for the Administrative Law Judge. Your attorney will be familiar with the disability law, including which medical records are needed to prove your disability and will make sure that your physician(s) fill out these forms as well as gather any other valuable information regarding your case. Your attorney will know how best to show that you cannot return to your prior work and cannot perform work at a substantial gainful work level.

If you are represented by a social security disability attorney, you don’t need to bring anything to the hearing except yourself. A good disability representative will make sure that all of the documents needed to prove your claim are assembled in your file for the judge to review. The Administrative Law Judge decides cases based on what he/she sees in your file. This will include information that has been gathered by a disability examiner, which may not always be favorable to your case. You attorney is knowledgeable in how to counter any negative input that a disability examiner may have added.

Disability hearings typically last between 20 and 40 minutes. For the average person who has not been trained in disability law, this can be an intimidating time. Having a disability attorney represent you will allow you to be confident that your case will be presented as clearly and efficiently as possible.

These are the Michigan Workers Compensation Decisions from 2013. While the numbers are difficult to read and understand, the bottom line is that only 169 cases went to trial in the entire State of Michigan in 2013. Of those 169 trials only 20 resulted in an open award of benefits for the injured worker. In essence, 20 people were found to be disabled enough to receive on going medical coverage, and wage loss benefits, being paid in the past and into the future. Thats only an eleven percent chance of winning (11%) ongoing benefits, which is considered winning your case in workers comp court. When you couple that with an appellate commission that is finding 90% in favor of the insurance industry you can understand why only a handful of people in the entire state are receiving ongoing benefits. Unbelievable. Please write your representative complaining about how one sided the system is.

NAME
OPEN
CLOSED
DENIED
MISC
TOTAL
Average
1.00
1.15
3.05
3.25
8.45
Birch
0
0
0
0
0
Boyle
1
3
3
3
10
Buehler
1
0
4
5
10
Castora
1
1
3
3
8
Colombo
0
2
1
1
4
Grunewald
3
1
8
3
15
Klaeren
1
0
1
3
5
Kurtz
3
3
1
5
12
Logan
2
0
8
7
17
Mason
0
0
0
0
0
McAree
1
1
7
9
18
Moher
0
0
0
0
0
Ognisanti
1
1
9
3
14
Purcell
0
1
1
0
2
Rochau
1
0
0
0
1
Slater
2
1
6
4
13
Timmons
0
2
0
4
6
Tjapkes
3
5
7
7
22
Williams
0
0
1
5
6
W oons
0
2
1
3
6
TOTALS
20
23
61
65
169

2014 Social Security Disability update: Social Security initial filings are taking about 3-4 months according to our current records and appeals to get a hearing in front of an ALJ or admin. Law judge are taking about 10 to 12 months on average.

Unfortunately, the value of workers compensation settlements in Michigan have been declining given that only a hand full of people won their workers compensation cases in Michigan last year. Thats for the entire State of Michigan. Between the Law that the republicans and Snyder passed in November of 2011, the Judges appointed by Governor Snyder, and the Appellate Commission which is favoring the insurance companies and self insured companies about 90% of the time in their decisions, the injured worker is seeing the darkest days of workers compensation law in Michigan. However, with good medical records, and some job search (which is now required under Synder’s new law) our firm is still getting very reasonable settlements. If you have any questions, please call or email at no charge to you.

The attorney fee for a lump sum settlement when benefits are being paid is only 10 percent of the lump sum settlement. If benefits are terminated or cut off the attorney fee only goes up slightly to 15 percent of the first $25,000 and then is reduced to 10 percent of the balance over $25,000, for lump sum settlements.

Unemployment haunts Social Security recipients
By Tami Luhby @Luhby May 7, 2013: 6:06 AM ET

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Diana Brest is getting smaller Social Security payments because she was unemployed before retiring.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Losing your job is a nasty shock at any age, but for older Americans nearing retirement, there’s an extra kick: A late stretch of unemployment will haunt them throughout their Golden Years in the form of lower Social Security payments.
“Those years are vital to their Social Security benefits,” said Gary Koenig, director of economic security for AARP’s Public Policy Institute. “It’s something you’ll have to deal with your entire life.”

Social Security benefits are based on a person’s highest 35 years of earnings, which are then indexed for wage growth. The last years of one’s career are when most people earn their highest salaries, so replacing those top-income years with less lucrative ones — or no income at all — can prove costly. A person who misses a year of earnings could see his Social Security payments reduced by 3%, or just over $450 annually if he receives the average check of $1,262 a month, according to a calculation AARP ran for CNNMoney.
For Diane Brest, four years of unemployment at the end of her career meant a $68 reduction in her monthly Social Security check.
“That’s $68 I could use towards food or medical expenses,” said Brest, 62, who lives in Phoenix. “Food has gone up in price. Minimum payments on credit cards have gone up. Health insurance has gone up. It’s very depressing.”
Brest got hit with a double whammy that’s common for those laid off late in life: To get by by, she had to start collecting Social Security several years earlier than she planned. Before being let go from the insurance company where she worked for 14 years, Brest had intended to work until age 66, when she would have been eligible to receive $1,200 a month. Instead, she chose to start collecting at 62 because she needed the money. She thought she would get $968, but because of her unemployment, she’s only getting $900 a month.
You can estimate your own future Social Security payment with a calculator on the Social Security Administration’s website.

Please be advised that the Social Security Administration will now be releasing the names of the ALJ’s before the hearing. This is very helpful in allowing us to give you an idea about how your specific hearing will be conducted.

Question: Can I settle my Michigan Workers Compensation Case and how much is it worth?
Answer: Yes you can, if the Insurance company is agreeable. It happens all of the time and in about 95% of all cases. They are usually evaluated as per a number of years of future years of workers compensation benefits. Please call the Law Offices of David Zimmerman for a free consultation, as to whether or not settlement is a good idea in your case.