The Most Important Thing To Do at Your Social Security Disability Hearing

“In the jigsaw puzzle that is the Social Security Disability approval process, your disability hearing can often be the most important piece,” observes disability lawyer Kevin Lichtenthal of Nash Disability Law.

“In Illinois, 70% of initial applications for disability benefits are denied. At the hearing level, however, 51% of those who have been denied are approved for benefits. This is why your disability hearing is so crucial.”

“During your hearing, the Social Security administrative law judge (ALJ) who is presiding will ask you a series of questions about what you are capable of doing. He or she will ask questions like: ‘How long can you stand?’ ‘How do you spend your typical day?’ ‘Can you do the dishes?’”

“The ALJ is attempting to determine your ‘residual functional capacity’ (RFC); that is, what your capabilities are despite your impairments,” Lichtenthal explains. “The ALJ is trying to get a handle on what you can do during a workday and a work week. Your disability attorney will also ask you questions to help the ALJ understand the limitations caused by your disability.”

“Which brings us to the most important thing to do at your Social Security Disability hearing. Listen. This may seem obvious, but one of the most common mistakes we see at disability hearings is our client not listening to and answering the specific questions asked by the judge. So, pay close attention during your hearing. When you are asked a question, precisely answer the question—and only that question—in a sentence or two.”

“An example might be helpful here, so you can better understand what I mean. At a hearing one of my clients was asked by the ALJ: ‘How long can you walk?’ And my client answered: ‘I don’t know, I never timed it.’ But this did not answer the question. The correct and most truthful answer was: ‘I can’t even walk a full block without having to stop and catch my breath.’ Let’s say you have a disabling impairment in one of your hands, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.  The ALJ may ask you: ‘How much can you lift?’ A response like: ‘I have had carpal tunnel syndrome for a long time,’ does not answer the question. But ‘I can’t even lift a case of soda without excruciating pain,’ specifically answers the question. When you don’t listen to the question and then don’t specifically answer it, the hearing gets sidetracked, and it is hard to bring your case back on track and focus on why you are unable to work.”

“Provide details that help ‘paint a picture’ for the judge. For example, maybe arthritis makes it too painful to vacuum your carpet for more than 15 minutes at time. A detail like that helps the judge to evaluate the severity of your disability. We will guide you through your testimony so you can present your facts and then the judge can draw his or her conclusions.”

“Don’t volunteer information that was not part of the question. If you don’t clearly hear the question or don’t completely understand it, ask the judge to repeat it.”

“To help answer questions at the hearing, we strongly recommend that you keep a disability journal—a written record that tracks how your disability affects your day-to-day living and what you do to manage it. Aim for adding journal entries every day, or at least several times a week.”

“This journal serves two purposes. First, it will help reinforce the medical records, tests, and statements from your healthcare providers and second, reviewing it just prior to your hearing will help you prepare specific answers to the questions you will be asked.”

“As your Social Security Disability attorneys, we at Nash Disability Law take getting you ready for your hearing very seriously,” says Lichtenthal. “Honed by decades of experience, we are local Chicago attorneys who take great professional pride in how well we can prepare you for a critically important hearing.”

“However, while we are the experts in the law, you are the expert in your life. The facts that you provide to us during preparation will help us to present your case to the judge in the best possible light.”

Nash Disability Law has helped more workers with disabilities in the Chicago area get Social Security Disability benefits than any other law firm. If you have severe health problems and are unable to work contact us for a free evaluation of your case and more insider information to give you the best chance to be awarded the benefits you have rightfully earned.