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Here are basic steps in a Social Security disability case, start to finish. Understand, we're not giving great detail here due to space - just the basics.

1. Application filing. File your initial application for disability. Give Social Security the names and addresses of all your doctors, your medications, your list of diseases, symptoms, impairments. Wait for a decision - usually within 90 to 120 days.

2. If you receive a denial of benefits letter, the next step depends upon which state you live in. In Alabama and 9 other states, you can skip the "reconsideration" phase and appeal straight to an administrative law judge. So, the next step for us would be an appeal request. That is going to require a patient wait of anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

3. We might call the next stage, "building the case." This will include a very thorough review of medical records, perhaps additional physical or mental examinations, completion of more forms, questionnaires, etc. Additional evidence will be submitted by the representative as it becomes available. The representative will decide the best way to approach the case, and the best way to win it. We may look for witnesses who can give testimony, either written or oral, on your behalf. A Function Report and Disability Report must be carefully completed and submitted. Most representatives will write a brief--which is a 5 to 10 page paper--explaining the limitations which keep the claimant from working. The brief will also cite the medical source evidence, showing how the medical evidence forms a basis for meeting a listing in the Social Security Disability Manual. Medical research may be necessary so that we understand your medical or psychological condition better.

Prior to your hearing date, your representative may communicate with the Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), to see if an "on the record" decision is possible. This gives the hearing judge an opportunity to make a fully favorable decision without a hearing, if he or she deems the evidence to be strong enough

4. Before the hearing, the representative will hold a "pre-hearing conference" with the claimant to explain what will happen at the hearing, what questions may be asked, the answers that are expected, and that kind of thing.

5. The hearing will be at a place designated by Social Security. Present will be the claimant, his/her representative, the administrative law judge, an SSA worker to make an audio recording of the proceeding, and usually a vocational expert hired by Social Security. Social Security may bring a medical expert (doctor, psychologist) to the hearing to give further testimony on the medical details of the case. Social Security will send the claimant or representative a letter prior to the hearing. This letter will state which vocational or medical experts are expected to testify at the hearing.

The representative will go with the claimant to the hearing, sit next to him, introduce evidence, and ask helpful questions of the claimant. The representative may also cross examine medical or vocational witness or other persons who give testimony at the hearing.

This is a very simplified version of what an attorney or non-attorney representative will do in the Social Security disability process. The appeal phase involves much more than just going to the hearing. We like to use this analogy. "Going to an appeal hearing is like going to a picnic. By the time you get there, most of the preparation has already been done."

The Forsythe Firm operates as a professional Social Security disability advocacy firm, located in Huntsville, Alabama. Get more information from the web site www.get-ss.com or call (256) 799-0297 in Huntsville.

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