How to Best Represent Yourself in a Social Security Disability Case.

Will you be representing yourself at a Social Security disability hearing? Doing so can be a challenge but if you have no other option or if you have made the decision to proceed without a lawyer, the judge will expect you to be prepared and will not give you much in the way of special considerations because you are a "pro se" (unrepresented) claimant.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Get a Copy of your medical records
03:00 - What's missing here?
08:23 Free Case Evaluation

As I discuss in this video, the starting point when preparing for your hearing is to understand what you are trying to prove. Social Security disability is not about your diagnosis - in other words, you won't win disability benefits because you have a herniated disc, uncontrolled diabetes, blood clots in your leg, congestive heart failure or schizophrenia.

Instead you have to prove to the judge that the symptoms of your medical condition and the side effects of treatment or medication make you so unreliable that you would not be able to perform the duties of a simple, entry level job. Further your condition must be at this level for at least 12 consecutive months.

Secondly, as an unrepresented claimant you are responsible for updating your claims file. This means that at least a week (but ideally longer) before your hearing you need to supply the judge with updated medical records so that the judge will have information about your current medical condition (see my video about SSA's "5 day rule" here: https://youtu.be/ZTXzcIakIRU.

Third, you need to be prepared to testify and explain to the judge in very specific terms how and why you would not be a reliable employee.

Finally, you need to be prepared to cross examine the vocational witness who will appear at your hearing to testify about employer tolerances for missed time from work and off task behavior.
(See my video at https://youtu.be/74Wc7yEF_vM for more about vocational expert testimony.)

As you can see, a lot goes into preparing for your disability hearing, and the judge will expect you to be on the cutting edge in his/her court! Beware!!

*** MY PLEA TO THOSE CONSIDERING GOING IT ALONE. DON'T! ***

Have you ever seen a movie where the person comes to court representing themselves, and the judge asks them several times, "Are you really certain you want to do this alone?"

I want you to carefully consider what is at stake by not being properly represented by a veteran attorney like myself who has seen every trick in the book and has a very high win rate.

Consider that fact that the government did a recent study and found that you have a 300% better chance of winning benefits by having a LAWYER than going without one. Remember, if you lose, you get zero. If you win, you only pay 25% of the lump sum to me, plus you KEEP 100% of your monthly checks! (And you owe nothing if we lose) This is designed by the law to protect you.

Don't let cost dissuade you from hiring a lawyer! That could be the biggest mistake you make.

NEXT STEPS...

============== FREE CASE EVALUATION =================
If you or a loved one would like a case evaluation for your
SSDI or SSI case, please contact me at
https://bit.ly/Contact-Jonathan
====================================================

================= CONTACT ME =======================
Jonathan Ginsberg
Social Security Disability Attorney
Website: https://ssdAnswers.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GinsbergLaw/
Telephone: 800-890-2262
https://bit.ly/Contact-Jonathan
====================================================
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