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Regarding the issue of representation and representatives:
Most Social Security Disability and ssi claims are denied at the Initial Claim and Reconsideration levels. For this reason, most disability claims will need to be heard by an Administrative Law Judge before a claimant can hope to receive benefits. It is at the level of an ALJ hearing that one should always be accompanied by a Disability Attorney or Non Attorney Claimant's Representative. While a disability attorney or non attorney representative cannot guarantee that a claimant in South Carolina will be awarded social security disability or ssi benefits, such an individual can guarantee that a case will be properly developed prior before a hearing takes place. In all candor, the vast majority of 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. However, the odds of winning a social security disability or ssi claim before an Administrative Law Judge are markedly decreased when a claimant in South Carolina 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. And even unrepresented ssd or ssi claimants who are successful and win their claims may find that they did not get as much in past due benefits, or backpay, as they thought they were entitled to. Of course, an ssdi representative will always try to prove the earliest date of onset for a claimant's condition for the purpose of getting the most ssd or ssi backpay for a claimant. Disability attorneys and lawyers 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 a disability claim, to attend a hearing before a judge in South Carolina without representation may result in a lost opportunity to win disability benefits. |
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