Currently, hearings before Federal Administrative Law Judges are occurring via the telephone, via Microsoft Teams Video, and in person at local Social Security Office’s of Hearings Operations. Whether you wish to appear in person, on video, or via telephone is up to...
Helping People With Disabilities Nationwide

Erin Edson
Asthma and disability
Asthma can have a big impact on your daily life and your ability to work, and are a reason you could qualify for asthma. If you have had exacerbations or complications requiring at least three hospital stays of 48 hours or more within a twelve month period, and an...
What is a Date Last Insured?
First, what is disability? There are two kinds of disability through the Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. The latter is based on the taxes you have paid into the system while you worked, and as such...
Disability and Asset limits
There are two kinds of disability: Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. Social Security Disability Insurance benefits have no asset limits. Supplemental Security Income eligibility is strictly impacted by how many assets you hold....
Special Medical-Vocational Exceptions – 55 years of age, limited education, no past work experience
There are certain circumstances that are outlined which result in an award of disability. One is if you are over the age of 55, have no more than an 11th grade education, and no work arising to substantial gainful activity in the previous 15 years, and have at least...
What if I die while waiting for my hearing?
It can take up to two years from the time you file an application for disability to the time when you appear before an Administrative Law Judge at your hearing. Unfortunately, some claimants will pass away before they attend their hearing. So, what happens then? When...
My SSDI claim was denied, now what?
Often you hear people say they had to try three times to get disability. Three times! This seems like a lot, but really it is all one time. When you file for disability, this begins the claim. If your claim was denied after the initial filing, we request...
How Much Does A Disability Attorney Cost?
We are only paid a fee if we win your case! Our fee is set by the federal government, and it is currently 25% of any past due benefits OR $7,200, whichever is less. Meaning, if you are owed $20,000 in backpay, our fee would be $5,000. If you are owed anything over...
Can I work part time?
In order to be approved for social security disability, we need to prove you are unable to work full time. So can you work part time? Yes, keeping in mind that social security eligibility is a five step process, and if you earn too much money you will be denied at...
Can my social security payments be garnished?
While Social Security Disability Insurance benefits cannot be garnished by creditors to satisfy a debt, benefits can be garnished in accordance with state law. Social Security will withhold current and continuing benefits if you have a legal obligation to pay child...
Telephone hearings? Video Hearings? Should I ask for an in person hearing?
Throughout the last two years the Social Security Administration has had to make major shifts in the way hearings are run in order to keep serving the public. First all hearings were cancelled, however they quickly shifted to telephone hearings. A short while later,...
Ruling out “Other Work”
So from the five step process we know we need to prove you cannot do other work, not just the work you have done before. There are a few rules we can use to help us rule out other work though, one of them being POMS § 416.962 Medical-vocational profiles showing an...
Medical Vocational Guidelines, Grid Rules
So from the five step process we know we need to prove you cannot do other work, not just the work you have done before. There are a few rules we can use to help us rule out other work, one discussed here (link to first post). Another way in which we can rule out...
Can I work while waiting for SSI/SSDI benefits?
The short answer is yes, but it is a little more complicated than that. While you can work part time in most cases while awaiting your hearing or even while collecting benefits, the amount you can work is based on the amount of dollars you earn not the hours worked....
Five Step Process
Proving disability, whether before or at a hearing with a federal Administrative Law Judge is different than any other kind of court you may have been to or seen. It is an informal process with different rules. Below is the five-step sequential process Social Security...

Injured At Work?
Find out if you can collect Work Comp benefits too