LINDSAY BROWN: When your claim is denied, whether an attorney was representing you or you were representing yourself, the next step is to consider an appeal. This is made to something called the Appeals Council. In an appeal, we need to make the case that no reasonable judge could have decided you were not disabled. Sometimes it's a legal error we want to point out. Other times it's the medical or job-related facts of your case that we think were misinterpreted. Often, it's both.
It's not easy to show that a judge is unreasonable because the law presumes that the Social Security judge's decision is correct unless there are serious mistakes in the decision. But we have extensive experience in this area that few other law firms have. So we can often see flaws that others can't.
We have been involved in well over 5,000 Appeals Council appeals and beyond that over 1,000 federal court appeals. Many other attorneys ask our firm to step in and help their clients with appeals. So if your case is denied, even if we didn't represent you, we may still be able to help.
First of all, quite honestly, we might best help you by explaining why an appeal probably wouldn't work in your case. But that said, if some other attorney has told you your appeal won't work, still ask us. We may be able to see a reason for an appeal that someone else doesn't and we'll take your case.
Because it all comes down to this, very few attorneys in western and central Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio or northern West Virginia appeal the number of cases we do. So they simply cannot give you the experience and insight into these matters that we can. After all, we're your Social Security Disability attorneys.
[GRAPHIC: Osterhout Disability Law, LLC 1-866-438-8773 www.MyDisabilityAttorney.com Experienced Aggressive Personal]
