A Drummond Disability we would like to win all of our cases however, that obviously is not possible. When we receive a decision from an Administrative Law Judge denying a claim our normal procedure is to immediately contact our client and talk to them about the reasons for the judge’s denial.
The first step is to determine whether it would be in the best interest of the claimant to appeal the decision or to simply file a new claim . Under the current rules you cannot do both! The decision about whether to appeal or file a new claim is based upon many factors including the evidence presented at the hearing, the claimant’s date last insured, whether the claimant would be eligible for disability or supplemental security income in the future and many other factors.
A Drummond Disability if we appeal the claim we take extra time to make sure we include a precise statement of the issues to be raised on appeal and to attach a copy of all necessary exhibits . The statutory form currently utilized by the Social Security Administration to perfect an appeal to the Appeals Council from a denial of benefits by an Administrative Law Judge does not have room enough on it to adequately set forth the details necessary to win an appeal in most claims.
The first appeal from an adverse decision by the Administrative Law Judge is to the “Appeals Council”. In the event the Appeals Council sustains the decision of the Administrative Law Judge’s denial of benefits a decision has to be made whether or not a further appeal should be made to the Federal District Court. If our clients are poor we file documents in the appropriate claims to have the fees waived for the appeal. Additionally, after a successful appeal we usually file a petition for fees with the Federal District Court under the” Equal Access to Justice” act which usually results in some attorneys fees for the appeal being paid by the federal government and not the client. There is no charge for an appeal that we don’t win!
Further questions concerning this or any other issue can be addressed by simply contacting Drummond Disability at 1-800-842-0426.