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Do You Need a Disability Attorney for Your Disability Claim

A somewhat common misconception among the population is that you need to hire a disability attorney to handle your disability case. This is simply not true. Anyone can file a disability claim on their own. In the modern era, you may even be able to have your hearing via video chat. However, hiring an attorney to handle your case does present some pretty distinct advantages. Let’s explore those below.

Applying for disability can be a complex process, especially for those who have zero experience with the process. Mistakes can be made. An error in collection of your medical records or the way they are presented on legal documents can really set your case back.

The Social Security Administration has roughly 50,000 employees in total. That may sound like a large number but when you consider the fact that they have to look at 2 million applications per year, you begin to see the tremendous workload these employees face. The fact is that they don’t have the time to go back and forth with an applicant telling them what mistakes they made or what they still need to do to have a good case. They will simply reject the application and move onto the next one.

An attorney will take the ball and run with it for you. We have handled thousands of applications and know how to get the job done correctly. We avoid the mistakes which could otherwise result in your application being denied.

The average acceptance rate for first-time applicants is around just 20-25%. This number doubles when you hire an attorney to handle your case. You only get one appeal using the information from the original application. If you make a mistake on this appeal and simply submit the same information over again with little or no change, the odds of you being approved are very low. But, an attorney will see that almost half of all appeals they handle get approved.

Your disability attorney is capped at how much they can make from your case and only get paid if you are approved.

For decisions issued before November 30, 2024, the maximum fee was $7,200 or 25% of the claimant’s past-due benefits, whichever is less.

For decisions issued on or after November 30, 2024, the maximum fee increased to $9,200 or 25% of the past-due benefits, whichever is less.