Social Security Disability

NASHVILLE DISABILITY ATTORNEY SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY LAWYER REPRESENTING DISABILITY CLIENTS IN THE SOUTH EAST AND THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES TOLL FREE 1-877-271-2633

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Tennessee Disability Attorney

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As an Attorney representing people for their Social Security Disability I find that there are some important questions that have to be asked before the hearing or appeal of my clients claims, I thought I would share these questions with other individuals who might be in the middle of their Social Security Disability claim.

I start with the questions that in my opinion are important to Social Security, and they are as follows:

  1. How old was the client at the date they claimed disability? This is very important under the rules of Social Security, there are certain ages that change the way your claim is looked at on the Grid, (the grid is a system developed by Social Security to assist in the evaluation of your claim), claimants being older at the date of their disability have a less stringent placement on the grid system.
  2. What is your education level, again this question is important in every aspect of a disability claim, but especially as it relates to the grid system used by Social Security Disability.
  3. Work experience, the type of work you have done in your past is placed against what definition Social Security has in the defining of your work, this is done through use of a book accepted by Social Security. It can define your work as either skilled or unskilled, both definitions of your past work are very important to your claim.
  4. Daily activities, meaning what do you do during your normal days while waiting on your disability decision? It requires a thoughtful look back into your daily routine, it is very important to know this information.
  5. If you are not working, how are you surviving financially? This question requires an accurate statement of how you are surviving financially without working, while waiting on a decision about your claim.

I hope these thoughts have been helpful, if my law office can be of help to you in your social security claim for disability please give me a call at Toll Free 1 (877) 271-2633 or local at  (615) 308-2633.

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.

Blind Disability

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There is a listing under Social Security Disability for poor vision. The listings for poor vision or being blind is very technical in nature, the listings are as follows:

  1. Impairment of central visual acuity
  2. Contraction of peripheral visual fields in the better eye
  3. Loss of visual  efficiency
  4. Complete homonymous hemianopsia
  5. Total bilateral ophthalinopiegia  

Each of the above listings require a medical technical explanation, however it is possible to not meet the technical listings and still be declared disabled under the listing of poor vision. Things that have to be considered range from, how your hand eye coordination is effected because of your poor vision, to your inability to perform past work due to your poor vision, this is especially true when a claimant is 50 years old or older, at this point the burden would shift to Social Security to prove there is alternative work for you.

Being blind affects all types of jobs and professions, with a loss of site one cannot drive, read, perform tasks on an assembly line, the list is endless. A visual impairment can be a devastating condition for many families where the individual losing their site is the only one working. Please give me a call so that I may assist you in this time of need, I have successfully argued blind cases to Social Security Disability Courts, and I would be pleased to assist you, I may be reached toll free at 1 (877) 271-2633, or local at (615) 308-2633.

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.

Disability Jobs

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Often you may here someone say, “Social Security Disability said I can take up tickets at a toll booth, they  don’t think I am disabled”. What that person is really talking about is called unskilled work, skilled work,  and or transferable job skills. Under Social Security there will be a determination made as to whether your past work was unskilled or skilled, and it has very important consequences.

Lets first start with who decides whether you had an unskilled job, or skilled job, Social Security Disability uses a vocational expert. A vocational expert is someone who has studied in the field of Vocational Evaluation and rehabilitation, they are employed by Social Security to evaluate past work history and surmise what type work you can do now, if any at all.

At the hearing of your claim before the Judge, you will appear with your attorney and the vocational expert. There are two important statements a vocational expert can make about your case, the first is determining if your former job was skilled or unskilled, the next is determining if you had a skilled job, is there any transferable job skills to allow you to do another job?

Unskilled, if the vocational expert determines that you had a job that was unskilled, then there will be no transferable job skills to worry about, however the expert may testify that you can do other non skilled work, at this point it is very important to know what your limitations are, in regards to ability to do types of work;sedentary work, light work,  medium work. Understanding where you might fall is very important for the Social Security Grid System. The grid system is a chart developed by Social Security that uses many factors, (including age, job skills, education, ability to do light, work, sedentary work, or medium work) to help the Judge determine your disability.

How is skilled work  judged? Under 82-41 it makes the following points:

  • Skills can only be transferred from one specific job to another
  • A worker who in the past has performed only unskilled work, cannot have skills
  • Skilled work cannot be transferred to unskilled work
  • Skills are not transferable if the new skilled job requires significant training
  • Worker traits such as, alertness, dexterity are not skills, they are only traits  
  • Any job requiring 30 days or more of training is not considered unskilled

It is fundamental to understand skilled and unskilled work when dealing with a vocation expert at the hearing of your matter. Please give my law office a call toll free at 1 (877) 271-2633, or local at (615) 308-2633, I would be pleased to review your claim, I represent hard working people. 

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.

How to Qualify for Disability

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How does one qualify for Disability, in regards to their work history and past earnings, this does not address the medical condition, this only addresses whether you qualify to be under the Disability Insurance should you also have the accompanying medical condition that renders you disabled.

 The Social Security Administration has developed a simple chart, the credits that you need under the chart are earned during your working years. You will earn one credit for every $1,050.00 dollars you make each year, and you may earn up to four credits each year you work. The chart below sets out the age at which you became disabled along with the required credits needed to qualify for Disability Insurance under Social Security.

  •                            31 – 42, you will need 20 credits with five years of work
  •                            44, you will need 22 credits with five and half years of work
  •                            46, you will need 24 credits with 6 years of work
  •                            48, you will need 26 credits with 6 and half years of work
  •                            50, you will need 28 credits with 7 years of work
  •                            52, you will need 30 credits with 7 and half years of work
  •                            54, you will need 32 credits with 8 years of work
  •                            56, you will need 34 credits with 8 and half years of work
  •                            58, you will need 36 credits with 9 years of work
  •                            60, you will need 38 credits with 9 and half years of work
  •                            62 and older, you will need 40 credits with 10 years of work   
  •                            24 through 30 will need credits for half of the time between age 21  and  the  time of disability. 

If you become disabled at age 31 and above you will need to have generally earned at least 20 credits within the last 10 years to qualify for Disability under Social Security.

While this chart is not all inclusive, it gives one a general understanding of what it takes from a work history standpoint to qualify for Social Security Disability. Please call my law office so that I may assist you in your time of need, you may reach me at toll free  1 (877) 271-2633, or local at (615) 308-2633.

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.

Alleged Onset Date

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What is your Onset Date? In Social Security Disability your onset date is very important. You are telling the Social Security Department that this is the day you became disabled. Many times at or before a hearing I will discover that a client has by mistake, put down the wrong date for disability, if you do not claim disability the very day you stop working, it may be hard to determine your onset date looking backwards, that is why I review your onset very carefully.

As an attorney I review your medical records and earning records to determine your onset date for Social Security Disability purposes. Sometimes in reviewing these records I discover that the medical records do not match up with the onset date. When I see an onset date that does not match the medical records, I will ask the Judge to allow us to change the onset date, your medical records must be in close proximity to your disability date, meaning your records must show this is when you were unable to continue working. By changing the onset date to match your medical records it allows the Judge to possibly grant you disability, without it the Judge may not be able to properly document the date of your disability which can bring a host of problems for your claim.

The onset date can also be affected by your earnings, sometimes a person will show some earnings via the IRS when they are claiming to be unable to work, there are usually good explanations for this, sometimes it involves vacation pay, sick pay, and family leave pay. It is important to be able to explain this income, because it can have dire consequences on your disability claim should you not be able to explain it, and one of those consequences can be your date of disability or onset date that you are claiming be changed, or denial of your disability claim.

Under the Social Security Disability Act you can go back only 17 months from your application, to claim your onset date, meaning if you file your claim on March 1st, 2008, you can only backwards 17 months to claim your onset date or date you claim to have become disabled.

Should you need assistance in your Disability Claim, please give me a call at  toll free 1 (877) 271-2633, or local at (615) 308-2633.

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.

Nashville Disability Attorney

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You have worked your entire life and suddenly through no fault of your own you become disabled, what do you do? I hear this scenario over and over again in Tennessee, it is a difficult situation to find oneself  in. The first thing that you need to do is get your initial Social Security Disability application filed, you can do this by dialing 1 (800) 772-1213, I would recommend calling on the days of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, it seems these days are less crowded.

What happens after that? Usually in Tennessee your case is decided within a couple of months, unfortunately many people are denied. After you are denied you have a deadline to meet to appeal your claim, this is called the reconsideration stage, the Department of Disability Services will review your claim again, if you are denied at the reconsideration stage you will again have a deadline to meet, should you fail to meet any of these deadlines your claim can be dismissed.

What is after the reconsideration stage? This is when you request a hearing before a Federal Administrative Law Judge. You will need to have all of your relevant medical records for the Court to review, and testify before the Judge and the Vocational expert, each district in Tennessee has their own hearing office, such as Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, other states have the same scenario, each part of the state is split into districts. After the hearing at the Office of Hearing and Appeals, what is next? The Social Security Judge will generally issue an opinion about your claim in writing, you and your attorney will receive a copy of the decision in the mail.

As an attorney who has been in the courtroom since my third year of law school in Mississippi I have enjoyed my time representing good hard working people, being an Attorney doing Social Security Disability Law allows me to help out people, who through no fault of their own have become disabled. I would be pleased to help you out during your application for Social Security Disability, feel free to call the office at toll free 1 (877) 271-2633 or local at  (615) 308-2633.           

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.