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The first time anybody in this process actually listens to you. It is worth being ready for it.
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Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
No fee unless we win
Everything before the hearing was decided on paper by people who never met you. The hearing is different: an administrative law judge hears from you directly, can ask what your days are really like, and can be persuaded.
For most claimants this is the stage at which claims are won. It is also the stage people arrive at least prepared for, having waited a long time and assumed it would be a formality.
It is not a formality. But it is also not a trial, nobody is there to catch you out, and the room is smaller and quieter than people expect.
You have been denied, you have appealed, and a hearing has been scheduled or soon will be. You want to know what is going to happen.
Every stage is a real step in the Social Security process. No timescales are drawn here, because they vary by hearing office and are not ours to promise.
Hearings are informal by design and usually short, often under an hour. They may be in person at a hearing office, by video, or by telephone.
Expect to be asked about your work history and what those jobs physically involved; your conditions and treatment; what you can still do: lifting, standing, sitting, walking, stairs, reaching, concentrating; and what an ordinary day looks like from waking to going to bed, including who helps you and with what.
This is the part that decides many cases and that almost nobody anticipates. The vocational expert is asked hypothetical questions: assume a person of this age, with this education and this work background, who can do only this much: are there jobs such a person could do, and how many exist. If the expert identifies work, the claim is likely refused. If the limitations described rule out all work, it is likely allowed.
The whole case can turn on how those hypothetical limitations are framed, and on whether the expert’s answers are tested. That is the single strongest practical argument for having a representative there.
Rarely on the day. The decision arrives in writing afterwards.
Four things decide more hearings than anything else on this page.
People minimize. Asked whether they can walk, they say yes, because they walked to the car this morning, not mentioning that they then needed to sit for an hour. Both halves matter. The question is never whether you can do something once; it is whether you could do it reliably, all day, five days a week.
Judges read the medical record before the hearing. Testimony that does not match it damages everything else you say, including the parts that are completely true. Accuracy is more persuasive than emphasis.
A gap in the months before a hearing is one of the most damaging things in a file, and one of the easiest to avoid.
Evidence is meant to be submitted ahead of the hearing rather than produced on the day. A file missing a specialist's records is a file the judge decides without them.
You will likely be asked what you do on a good day, or about a vacation, an outing, a photograph. Answer honestly and give the context: what it cost you afterwards, who helped, how long you managed.
Obtain the complete record and read the exhibit file the judge will be working from. Get treating-source opinions on the functional questions that decide the case. Go through the likely questions with you in advance so nothing on the day is a surprise. Work out what the vocational expert is likely to say and be ready to test it. And attend with you.
Nothing up front. Disability representation is paid out of past-due benefits if the claim succeeds, under a federally capped fee that requires approval. If nothing is awarded, there is no fee.
Because of that structure, there is no financial reason to attend a hearing unrepresented.
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
Usually under an hour, and frequently around half that. The brevity surprises people who have waited a long time for it, but the judge has already read the file. The hearing exists to hear from you and, where one attends, from the vocational expert.
No. Social Security is not represented at the hearing and there is no lawyer on the other side arguing against you. The vocational and medical experts are meant to be neutral rather than adverse. It is an inquiry into your claim, not a contest against an opponent.
To answer whether work exists that a person with your specific limitations could do. The judge poses hypothetical limitations and the expert responds with job categories and numbers. Because the answer follows directly from how those limitations are framed, this exchange decides a great many claims, and it is where representation earns its place.
The judge works from the exhibit file, which contains what has actually been submitted. That is not always everything that exists, records nobody requested are simply absent. Checking the file for gaps before the hearing is one of the most valuable things that can be done for a claim.
Wear whatever you are comfortable in; nobody is assessing your clothes. Do not try to look worse than you are, and do not try to look better either. If you need to stand up and move during the hearing, do it and say why. Judges see this every day and find honesty considerably more persuasive than performance.
Hearings are held in person, by video and by telephone, and you are ordinarily told the format in advance and given some say in it. Each has practical trade-offs, particularly where a condition makes travel difficult or where being seen matters to the evidence. It is worth discussing rather than accepting by default.
Tell the hearing office as soon as you know, with the reason. Simply not attending risks the claim being dismissed. Postponements are possible with good cause, but they can add a considerable wait, so it is not a step to take lightly.
Often yes. A spouse, adult child, parent or carer can give evidence about what they actually see: the help you need, the days you cannot get up, what you stopped being able to do. It can be persuasive precisely because it is ordinary and specific. Let the hearing office know in advance.
The decision can be reviewed by the Appeals Council, and after that in federal court, both on limited grounds and both with their own deadlines. A written decision also explains the reasoning, which sometimes points clearly at what a fresh claim would need. Losing at hearing is not necessarily the end.
Yes: this is the stage at which help makes the most difference, and the fee comes out of past-due benefits rather than your pocket. Even where the hearing is close, the file can be reviewed, gaps identified, and you can be prepared for what will be asked.
Our fees are set by federal statute, are contingency only, and are the lesser of 25% not to exceed the statutory maximum of $9,200.
There is nothing to pay up front and nothing to pay if the claim does not succeed. The fee comes out of past-due benefits when they are awarded, and it has to be approved.
The conditions we have written about are the ones we are asked about most often. They are not the only ones that qualify, and the list is not a test you have to appear on.
A disability claim is decided on what your conditions do to your ability to work, not on the name of the diagnosis. Several problems that are each manageable on their own can add up to something that is not, and that combination is frequently the strongest part of a claim.
If what you have is not on this site, that tells you nothing about your claim. Tell us what you have been diagnosed with and what it stops you doing, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth pursuing.
If you are still at the denial stage, or are unsure which program applies to you, start there instead.
An injury that ends your working life can be a workers’ compensation claim and a disability claim at the same time.
I can't thank Casper, Casper and Casper enough for what they did for me. From start to finish it took less than a year for them to help me get disability benefits. They did almost all of the groundwork and made it as painless for me as possible. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
If I could give a MILLION PLUS stars I DEFINITELY would!! I contacted Mr. Steve Casper to handle my SSI case. I filed at first on my own and I was denied. He was VERY professional, honest and upfront about the clients he takes. He reassured me that I DID have a strong case. I got the news today that HE won my case for me!!!!
We cannot thank Casper and Casper enough for sticking with us through 4 years of back and forth to help our son (who has autism) receive his SSI benefits. From beginning to end we were treated with kindness. They were very thorough and made sure we understood the process and what we would face along the way. The relief we have received is immense.
Casper x3 were a lifesaver. I chose them because they practice in our region and understand what exactly I needed. I did not want someone from out of town. Their team from top to bottom helped me in my SSDI case. I tried it first on my own and was denied. Having decades of SSDI and court experience, Robin Partin helped me from step to step to go thru the process and had my back 100% in the hearing.
Steve Casper was VERY professional. Very compassionate. He explained things in an easy to understand way. He took my case after a previous firm dropped me in a very hurtful unprofessional way. He got my disabilty case approved from the very beginning. Steve is worth EVERY penny. I now will have my monthly payments to survive with my conditions and back pay to boot.
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Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
No fee unless we win
