How to Get Ready To Meet a Glendale Social Security Disability Lawyer

Have you arranged a meeting with your Glendale social security disability lawyer? Do you wonder what you need to take along to make the most of the meeting?

If yes, here’s your answer to what you need during your first meeting with your social security disability attorney in Glendale. It’s usually a free consultation, and you naturally want to make the most use of it.

1. Know Your Legal Issue

The most important thing to remember is to be organized and well informed about your social security disability claim. It would help if you were ready to clearly explain your disability.

Your lawyer can understand your case better this way. There’s also a higher chance of their accepting a case organized with its details.

Most important is the timeline of your claim, or rather when your disability began.

While it’s usually the date of an injury, it may also be the last day of going to work. Also, make sure you know the approximate date of your initial application and denials if you have already applied for SSDI benefits before.

2. What You Need to Take Along to the Meeting

Make and take along a list of all the places you had worked over the past fifteen years, with rough dates of joining and leaving. Don’t forget to include details of any work you had to miss because of your disability.

Please carry along any of your medical records, including blood and imaging test results.

It’s also worth creating a list of all the doctors you had visited over the years, and their contact information. You will also have to list the medications and all the treatments you had tried for your disability.
Any journal you had maintained about the pain levels and impact of your injuries and conditions on your daily life is also worth taking along.

If you had applied for disability before, then the above information should be in your initial application, work history, and adult disability reports. In this case, the form copies are more than enough, along with any correspondence received from Social Security, like denial letters and hearing notices.

Don’t worry if you have a few missing reports.

Your Glendale social security disability attorney will easily be able to get a copy if they accept your case.

3. Questions to Ask Your Potential Glendale Social Security Disability Lawyer

Yes, you don’t only have to reveal as much about your case as possible in the first consultation. You are also entitled to ask any questions and doubts you have to the lawyer. It helps ensure you are happy with them and feel comfortable in their presence.

Here are a few useful questions you should be asking.

1. How long have you been practicing social security disability law?

You need a specialist attorney to handle your case. Someone who’s more experienced with the law has a higher chance of winning your case for you.

2. How much of your practice is devoted to social security disability law?

Hire someone who focuses most of their time and energy in keeping updated with social security laws. They are the most experienced and better person to handle your case.

3. How many cases have you handled, and how many of them got approval for benefits?

It’s not enough if an attorney has handled hundreds of claims and cases. Their success rate also gives you an idea of how competent and able they are as a lawyer.

The average approval rate for most claimants with lawyers is about 60%.

4. Will you be giving my case your attention, or will you be handing it over to someone else in the firm?

It is an important question to ask because most lawyers tend to delegate their tasks to their assistants. While this is ok, they should represent you at your hearing.

Hey, you are hiring them for their expertise, and not the assistant.

5. Are there any ‘out-of-the-pocket’ expenses to pay? If yes, do I have to pay them up front?

Some lawyers charge to acquire your medical records or transportation to doctor visits. Find out if you have to pay for them upfront or if the lawyer has some other away to handle them.

6. How much will you be charging me? Will it be more than 25% of my SSDI back payments?

Make sure you clear this point before hiring your attorney.

Some of them use a ‘two-tier’ fee agreement. According to this agreement, they charge you only 25% or your back pay or up to $6,000 to represent your case. However, they will also quote additional charges to appeal to federal court.

7. Do you see any potential problems in my claim?

There are some things in your claim that may lead to potential problems and possible denial of your application.

Examples are not regularly seeing a doctor, not working recently to be insured for SSDI or already receiving unemployment benefits. These matters may leave your lawyer with some reservations and apprehensions about accepting your claim and case.

Now that you are prepared to meet your Glendale Social Security Disability Lawyer, you are most likely to get your case accepted. And most importantly, most of your doubts cleared too!