I Did All The Work On My Disability Case - Why Should I Pay My Lawyer?

I have encountered situations over the years where a social security disability or SSI claimant would be of the opinion that their disability lawyer had done nothing to earn their fee after a case had been won. And a number of these individuals have openly stated, "Why should I pay my disability lawyer? He didn't do anything".

Well, how valid is this sentiment? In some cases, I suppose, it may be very valid. Here are some examples I can think of.

A) The attorney did not request medical record updates and for this reason did not properly present his case.

B) The attorney did not read the claimant's social security disability file and so failed to grasp what mistakes were made by the social security administration at earlier steps in the process (and, thus, why the case should now be approved).

C) The attorney failed to properly prepare the claimant for the social security hearing.

All of these occurrences are entirely valid for giving a claimant the feeling that they have received inferior service. However...even when inferior (perhaps "piss poor" would be a good description) representation has been provided, a claimant who has signed a fee agreement with a representative is still obligated to pay the fee, provided that the case was won. In other words, two wrongs don't make a right (though, I can certainly understand if any of the scenarios listed above had actually occurred).

Fortunately, the scenarios I mentioned don't happen too often. The vast majority of disability representatives take their job seriously and strive to win cases. After all, if they keep showing up at the same hearing office unprepared, they'll soon take on a poor reputation that may affect how they interact with the judges that hear cases---and also affect their ability to get referrals from previously represented claimants.








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