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Whether you've applied for Social Security Disability or SSI, been denied for benefits, or are simply at the point of wondering if you should file a claim in Illinois, the representation issue is an important one. And, typically, claimants and potential applicants have questions such these:
What is the cost to hire a disability lawyer?, When should you get one?, What will a lawyer do for me?, and Will an attorney improve the odds of winning a claim with the Social Security Administration?? |
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Regarding the issue of representation and representatives:
Most Social Security Disability and ssi claims in Illinois are denied at the Initial Claim and Reconsideration levels. For this reason, most claimants in Illinois will need to be heard by an Administrative Law Judge before a claimant can hope to receive benefits. While a disability attorney or non attorney representative cannot guarantee that a claimant will be awarded social security disability or ssi benefits, such an individual can guarantee that an ssdi case will be properly developed prior to a hearing date. The simple fact of the matter is this: the vast majority of ssd or ssi claimants will have no idea how to properly and thoroughly prepare a disability case for a hearing, whereas an attorney or non attorney disability representative can apply a certain level of familiarity and expertise with social security rules and regulations toward the goal of obtaining a favorable outcome on a case. And, in many cases, an attorney or non attorney representative will have several years of invaluable ssdi and ssi claim experience to lend to a claimant's disability case. Can a claimant who is not represented by an attorney or non attorney still win an ssd or ssi disability claim at an ALJ hearing? Yes. And, in fact, this does occasionally happen. However, the odds of winning a social security disability or ssi claim before an Administrative Law Judge are markedly decreased when a claimant does not employ the services of an attorney or non attorney representative; therefore, a claimant should weigh the risk of going unrepresented to a hearing when their future livelihood is literally at stake---particularly when it takes so long to get to an ssdi disability hearing in the first place. And even unrepresented ssdi claimants who are successful and win their ssd or ssi claims may not obtain the most favorable onset date for the commencement of their benefits. The date of onset and the date of entitlement, of course, will determine how much a claimant will receive in backpay; therefore, being able to prove the earliest possbile onset is of extreme importance for a social security disability or ssi claimant. Though attorney or non attorney representation is never required in a disability claim, to attend a hearing before a judge in the state of Illinois without the assistance of a disability attorney or non attorney representative is unwise and may result in a forfeited opportunity to win disability benefits. |
| Social Security Disability What happens at a social security disability hearing ? |
