How You and Your Los Angeles Disability Attorneys Can Work Together to Win Your Claim
You and your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer are a team. Each of you has an important role to play in pursuing your claim for disability benefits.
What an Experienced Los Angeles Disability Attorney Can Do for You
Experienced disability lawyers know what information Social Security needs to make a favorable decision and how best to obtain it. Disability lawyers are often able to develop the evidence more completely than Social Security staffers who are under a lot of pressure to process a high volume of cases promptly. Disability lawyers can also prepare their clients to improve their effectiveness as witnesses.
Every case is different. Here are a few of the tasks our Los Angeles Disability Attorneys may perform on your behalf.
Analyze your case and prepare a plan to win. Your Los Angeles Disability Attorney will determine exactly what you need to prove to win benefits and then prepare to prove it.
Gather the right documents. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer will review your Social Security file to see what evidence Social Security has already obtained. Your lawyer will then obtain medical, school, work, and other records necessary to prove to Social Security Administration decision makers that you are unable to work.
Get opinions from your doctors. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer can prepare questions for your doctors to answer that provide the information Social Security needs for your particular case.
Send you to a specialist. You may have symptoms that are not explained by your current diagnosis and that have never been evaluated by the right type of specialist or medical test.
Send you to a vocational expert. A vocational expert can assess and report on your ability to work and what jobs, if any, you still can do.
Prepare you for your hearing. One of our Los Angeles Disability Attorneys will prepare you and your witnesses to testify at your hearing. Truthful, specific, detailed testimony from you and your witnesses will help win your case.
Advocate at your hearing. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer can question you and other witnesses, object to improper evidence, cross-examine medical and vocation experts presented by Social Security, and make written and oral arguments to the Judge.
What You Can Do to Help With Your Claim for Los Angeles Disability Benefits
As a claimant, you play an important role in the success of your Social Security case. There are a number of things you can do to help one of our Los Angeles Disability Attorneys put together your best possible case
See your doctor regularly. Your medical condition must be evaluated and properly documented. You cannot be approved for benefits if you don’t have medical records showing that you have a “medically determinable impairment.” Social Security wants to see recent records about your condition from your treating doctors.
Get contact information for all treating health care professionals. The easiest way to do this is to collect their business cards. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer may need to contact them to obtain your records or written reports.
Keep track of dates of all medical treatment. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer will want to know the dates of all your medical treatment so he or she can verify that Social Security has all your medical records.
Follow all prescribed medical treatment. Failure to follow treatment can hurt your case or even lead to a denial of benefits. The administrative law judge may conclude that your medical problems are not as bad as you say they are, otherwise you would have tried harder to follow the prescribed treatment.
Keep a list of all medications that you take or keep all pill bottles and packages. Social Security requires this information. Social Security considers whether medication side effects contribute to your inability to work.
Keep a daily record of your symptoms. A symptom diary can be powerful evidence at your disability hearing. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer can explain how to keep one.
Complete and return all forms. The disability examiner assigned to your case may send you questionnaires seeking information about your medical and work history and current physical and mental limitations. Don’t forget to complete these and return them promptly. Your Los Angeles Disability Lawyer can give you some tips on how to answer the questions properly.
Attend all medical examinations. Your disability examiner may arrange for you to have a physical or to undergo further medical or psychological tests. If you fail to attend, your case may be decided without this important evidence.
Think about people you know who might be good witnesses at your hearing. You want people who are familiar with your condition and can describe it to the judge. Sometimes neutral people, like supervisors, vocational counselors, and the like are better than family and close friends.
Get letters from friends and relatives about your disability. Letters from friends, relatives and other people can be very useful in a disability case. As a rule, the more such letters you have, the better. Your Los Angeles Disability Attorney can explain what information should be included in these letters.
Always tell the truth. Inconsistent, contradictory statements can damage your credibility. If Social Security does not believe you, you will not be approved for benefits.
Keep your attorney informed. One of our Los Angeles Disability Attorneys needs to know about significant changes in your medical condition or circumstances and changes in your address and/or phone number.
Get Assistance From Our Los Angeles Disability Lawyers
If you do not already have a disability lawyer and would like us to evaluate your claim, give us a brief description of your claim using the form to right, and we will respond promptly. Or you may email or call our office at 818-905-6611 to reach one of our Los Angeles Disability Lawyers.