New York Disability Attorneys

Do You Need an Attorney or Advocate for Your Disability Claim?

If you have applied for Social Security Disability or SSI in New York and have a pending claim or have received a notice of denial on your disability claim, you may be thinking of finding representation in the form of a disability lawyer or representative. Regarding the topic of representation, disability claimants often have questions such as the following:

• How will a disability attorney prepare a case?
• Will a disability attorney attempt to gather supporting statements from your treating physician?
• Is there a cap on fees for disability representation?
• What are the advantages to using a disability lawyer or advocate at a hearing or during a reconsideration?

Learn more about getting help with your Social Security Disability Claim.

For state specific information, see Filing for Disability in New York.

Regarding the issue of Representation and Representatives

Statistically, the vast majority of Social Security Disability and SSI claims in New York are denied at the Initial Claim. Fortunately, New York skips the reconsideration step and takes your case straight to the hearing stage, which is where you are most likely to win benefits.

For this reason, most SSDI claims in New York will need to be heard by an Administrative Law Judge before a claimant can hope to win and receive disability benefits.

It is at the level of an ALJ hearing, of course, that one should always be accompanied by a Disability Attorney or Non Attorney Claimant's Representative.

While a disability attorney or non attorney representative in New York cannot guarantee that an ssdi claimant will be awarded social security disability or ssi benefits, such an individual can guarantee that a case will be properly developed prior to a hearing date.

Can a claimant who is not represented by an attorney or non attorney still win an SSDI 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 claimants who are successful and win their 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 possible onset is of extreme importance for a social security disability or SSI claimant.

Disability attorneys and lawyers in New York do a great many things to ensure that a social security disability or SSI claim will have the best chance of winning. This includes gathering medical records, obtaining detailed statements from a claimant's treating physicians, and, at the time of the hearing, applying a thorough understanding of SSA regulations and requirements to the disability adjudication process.

Though attorney or non attorney representation is never required in an SSDI or SSI disability claim, to attend a hearing before a judge without the assistance of a disability attorney or non attorney representative is unwise and may result in a lost opportunity to win SSDI disability benefits.