In my 30 years of experience representing claimants in social security disability hearings, I have come to the conclusion that there are five factors that are significant in almost all cases. These are the factors one should consider when applying for a disability.
SEVERE DEFICIENCY: Disability cannot be obtained by a stepfather. Your disability must seriously affect your ability to work. Must be a handicap In my 30 years of practice, I have always found Social Security judges to be very understanding of a claimant with a serious handicap like lupus or cancer.
YOUR AGE: Best to be 55 or older when applying for disability. The system favors the oldest applicant. On the other hand, if you are under the age of 50, you may have to show that you cannot do any work that exists in the national economy. It doesn’t take much physical skill to say hello at a Walmart store or watch a security monitor. If you are under 50, you will need to show that you cannot do such work.
THE OPINION OF YOUR OWN DOCTOR: Social Security has a rule that can help most claimants. That rule says that if your doctor’s opinion is well reasoned and based on many clinic visits by you over a period of time, then his or her opinion may be granted for “weight control” in your case. Therefore, if your doctor supports your claim, then you have a great chance of winning your case. In my experience, 100% support from the claimant’s own physician is crucial to the success of a disability claim. I have had a number of cases where the United States District Court has struck down a Social Security administrative law judge precisely because the Social Security judge did not give sufficient weight to the opinion of the claimant’s own physician.
YOUR SKILL AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL: Unfortunately, the more education you have and the more skills you have, the harder it is to win a disability case. For example, even if you’re over 55 and have a severe orthopedic disability, if you can still do some clerical work at a desk, you probably won’t be considered disabled. This is especially true if your past skills and education indicate that you can do clerical work. However, all is not lost if you can show that your disability prevents you from “sitting down” to do office work or if your disability prevents you from doing the very light repetitive work that office work requires.
THE OPINION OF A SPECIALIST: If you have a disability such as lupus, some type of cancer or fibromyalgia, the opinion of your family doctor (although beneficial) will probably not prevail. What you need is the support of a specialist who treats the particular impairment you have. For example, with fibromyalgia you would need to see a specialist in arthritis or rheumatology. He or she, at a minimum, would have to say that your fibromyalgia meets the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria for the disease. For cancer, you probably need the opinion of an oncologist.
ABSTRACTIn my 30 years of practice and over 1,000 hearings, I have found the five factors above to be the most important elements in winning a disability case. However, even knowing these factors, it is not a substitute for not contacting an experienced Social Security disability attorney.
