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.
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Here is a question received from a reader that touches on the issue of how to choose the correct "onset date" for disability when there have been multiple, unsuccessful job attempts:
I have a brother who is a professional businessman who has tried many times to maintain a job through a devastating illness. Over the past two years he has had a job for a few months unable to do the job and the company has let him go , he was able to collect unemployment , thought and hoped he could do another job, same thing happens, unable to complete days, lots of missed days, they let him go, he collects unemployment..repeat scenario three more times. I have convinced him to apply for social security disability (he should have done it some time ago) but what would you recommend for using the date of unable to work? Also, he has no more savings and unemployment runs out nest month..then nothing.. should he apply for SSI as well?
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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.
Filed under Attorney issues, Hearing process by
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.
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I received the following email from a gentleman named Richard who graciously agreed to permit me to respond to his questions on this blog/podcast.
You have, what I believe to be be, the most informative, no BS, Attorney site I have seen in my 3 mo quest for information…enough of the "smoke up the…."….
I have MRI, X-ray, and medical records that show back problems. I have been seeing a liver specialist. for over a year due to liver disease (he has yet to find source), I have shingles pain flares, and migraine headaches. Depression dating back several years. I have SEVERE diarrhea, that leads to incontinence, and I take 9 diff. medications a day.
All this caused me to leave my career in law enforcement 2 years ago. To top it off, I attempted suicide 02/08…About 3 mos ago, I filed for SSD. My question is this….I have kept a "pain Journal" that I show my pain management doctor, for the last 6 mos. It shows how I feel on any given day, and what i can and can't do, in my own
words. Some days are good, some days are horrible. Should I send that to DDS?–Richard
Podcast notes and resources:
1. Social Security listings – the fastest way to win a disability case is to show that your condition meets a listing.
2. Functional capacity argument – identify specific problems that impact your work capacity
3. Mental health vs. physical medical problems – which makes for a stronger case?
4. Pain journals – when are they useful?
Filed under Disability and back pain, Functional capacity argument, Listing argument by
Jonathan Ginsberg