Obviously, if you have been waiting 12, 18 or more months, it can be very frustrating to finally get your hearing, then find yourself waiting weeks or months for a decision with no way to get a status update.

Unfortunately, there is no much you can do about this state of affairs.  Social Security personnel – and especially the judges – are overworked and their offices are understaffed.  In most cases the judges rely on "writers" to actually produce the written decisions and if the writers are backlogged, the decisions will be backlogged as well.

Even your attorney probably won't be able to do much.  When we call the ODAR offices, the front desk receptionist tells us the same thing he tells you – "the decision is in writing – we don't know when it will be issued."

In my office I will email the judge if the decision is not released after five months or so.  Sometimes that gets results and sometimes it does not.

Podcast Notes:  Social Security judges are busy people, and they do not have time to dig for information.  Your hearing offers you the opportunity to explain to a Social Security Administration judge why you are unable to work, and your hearing will last no more than 60 minutes.   The only issue that the judge really cares about involves your capacity for work – everything else is peripheral, so it does not make sense to waste valuable time pondering background information like your work history and medication lists.

In my experience, judges appreciate you and your attorney if you can quickly review background information and proceed quickly to the heart of the matter.  In fact, I generally ask leading questions (questions that suggest the answer) when I cover background information and not once has a judge interrupted me.

Here is the background information that you need to have at your fingertips:

Past work over the last 15 years – you should know the dates of employment, your job title, and prepare a brief description of what you did.   This information can also be submitted in writing on a form but the judge may want to hear it directly from you.

Current medications list – you should have a list of the medicines, both prescription and non-prescription, that you take, who prescribed those medications, and when you started taking each one.  Further, if your doctor has been modifying your prescriptions in an effort to control your condition, a timeline would be helpful.  Finally, you should make note of any side effects that apply.

Know the "onset date" set out in your application for benefits and why you chose that date.  Was it an accident?  Was this your last day of work?  Why this date?

Have a clear understanding of why you believe you meet Social Security's definition of disability.  Discuss this with your lawyer and write out a statement if necessary.

Prepare answers to questions about your capacity to perform specific exertional activities, like standing, walking, sitting, crawling, crouching, climbing, reaching, using your hands, etc.  Avoid "not very much" or "not too long."

Unless you are illiterate or unable to communicate in English, the grid rules apply to claimants who are 50 years old or older and who have a physical impairment.   I have published a web site specifically about the grid rules – the address is http://www.gridrules.net.

The following video demonstrates how the grid rules work and how you can use free resources on the Internet to see if the grid rules apply to you.  You will need to click on the video icon, which will open a full screen video.

I have a good friend who works as a sales trainer.  He teaches his students that "attitude is everything."  In a sales context, if you exude confidence and believeability, you  have much better chance at making a sale.  Conversely, if you give off a "vibe" of defeatism and lack of confidence, your customers will sense your desperation and you will not be successful in sales.

The same ideas hold true in the Social Security disability world.  Although you may have been waiting for years to appear before a judge, and you may know with every fiber of your being that you do not have the energy or endurance to work, you must present yourself as a fighter who wants to work and who hates the idea of pursuing disability benefits.  Five days a week for 8 hours a day your judge has seen or thought about a claimant who wants that judge to obligate the federal government to pay monthly benefits.

Most disability cases turn on whether the judge finds you credible.  You can greatly enhance your credibility by presenting yourself as an honest, hardworking person who has reluctantly given up a fulfilling, financially rewarding career or job.

In this episode, I describe my pre-hearing meeting with a client who has a chronic, debilitating condition.  Only at the end of my meeting did I discover a line of questioning that will allow me to portray her as a reluctant claimant.

1. understand the main issue in your case – reduce it to one or two sentences

Example:  In 2004 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  I continued to work until August of 2006 when I finally resigned because the symptoms and complications of my disease increased to the point where I could no longer get through a workday or a work week.  Specifically, by August of 2006 I was no longer able to walk without a walker, my fatigue had increased to the point where I needed to lie down for 2 hours during the middle of the day.

2. learn about the judge and how he conducts hearings.  Most want to do the right thing but they have very different styles

• judge who asks you to review fee contract
• judge who says nothing
• judge who challenges you – always finds something in the record

3. Think about capacity for specific activities

• sitting
• standing
• walking
• lifting
• carrying

Avoid "not very much" or "I haven't thought about it"

4. Think about pain – use a 1 to 10 scale (if your lawyer believes judge will be responsive).

5. Recognize that in most cases, the issue will boil down to whether you are reliable.  As he talks to you the judge will be building a profile that will turn into a hypo question for the vocational witness.  Try to be definite.  Think about your capacity not on your worst day or a great day but on an average day.  Difficult to think about a truly average day but you have to.

6. Approach disability as an undesireable necessity.  You don't want to be there

I have previously related my opinion that part time work can hurt your chances at getting approved for disability benefits.  A couple of recent cases confirms my reservations.  In one case, I represented a woman with a long standing diagnosis of fibromyalgia.  Her medical record was extremely comprehensive, and included reports from numerous doctors attesting to the myofascial pain and debilitating fatigue that is typical of this chronic pain condition.  I had functional capacity forms from 2 of her treating doctors that strongly supported my contention that she did not have the capacity for competitive work at any level.  In my opinion, this claimant was as deserving as any fibromyalgia patient that I have ever represented, yet the judge denied the claim because my client had published a web site about her ordeal, and used the web site to as a forum to support her fellow fibromyalgia patients.

I have seen several instances where web sites like the one I have described created problems for claimants.  I have also seen situations where a claimant was denied for "riding along" with his son in a landscaping business, and for accompanying her son to his job at a video store.

Although I think that in most of these cases, the claimants were simply bored and wanted to get out of the house, judges get very uncomfortable with activities that look like work.

In this video, I talk about part time work and my thoughts about why and how it can negatively affect your case.

This is the second half of my interview with Colorado Springs, Colorado Social Security disability attorney Tomasz Stasiuk.  Today, Tomasz and I are focusing on the mistakes that we sometimes see and suggestions about how to best prepare for your disability hearing.

This is part one of my interview with Colorado Springs, Colorado attorney Tomasz Stasiuk.  Like me, Tomasz publishes a Social Security disability blog along with his firm website, and Tomasz encourages dialog with readers of his Internet publication.  Social Security disability is different from other areas of law in that claimant's lawyers like Tomasz or myself cannot observe our colleagues when they try cases.  This is done to protect the privacy of the claimants but I think it makes it more difficult for disability lawyers to improve our craft.  Conversations like this one – between colleagues facing similar issues can help bridge this gap.  I hope you enjoy part one of my conversation with Tomasz Stasiuk.