Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Claims Attorney
Filing a claim for disability benefits can be the beginning of a long and daunting journey. With help from our Social Security Disability and SSI disability claims lawyer, you can rest assured that although potentially time-consuming, your journey will be given a calculated formula for success.
Attorney Vammen represents claimants who have applied for benefits, been denied and seek to have their claim decided by an Administrative Law Judge, the Appeals Council or Federal Court. You, the claimant, should file your initial application with the Social Security Administration. If denied, you should file the request for reconsideration with the Social Security Administration. If you are denied again, it's time to hire a lawyer.
The law office of Fritzie Moore Vammen, Attorney at Law, P.A., in Conway, Arkansas, analyzes the facts and law in each case and provides honest feedback about whether your claim meets the legal definition of disability. Attorney Fritzie Vammen provides dedicated legal help to clients in presenting their claim to an Administrative Law Judge and, if necessary, in appealing a wrongful denial.
How Do I Start My Claim For Disability Benefits?
The first two stages of your appeal are handled administratively through the Social Security Administration. You may make your initial application and appeal the first denial on your own with the help of a Social Security Claims Representative. You may file an Initial claim for Social Security Disability/SSI benefits or appeal a denial in one of three ways:
- online at the Social Security Administration's website
- at your local Social Security Office - find the address for your local office here
- call the toll free number 1-800-772-1213 to speak to a Social Security representative between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call our toll-free TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.
Be sure to provide a complete list of your recent medical treatment (names and addresses of doctors, hospitals and clinics) so that your medical records will be included for review.
WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF APPEAL AND HOW LONG DO THEY TAKE?
1. Initial application - you may file an application online, at your local SSA office or by phone as listed above. It may take SSA between 60 to 90 days (or longer) to gather your medical records and decide your claim. If denied you have 60 days from the denial letter to request a Reconsideration.
2. Reconsideration - you may file a request a reconsideration online, at your local SSA office or by phone as listed above. It may take SSA between 60 to 90 days (or longer) to gather your medical records and decide your claim. If denied you have 60 days to request a Hearing.
3. Hearing - you may file your request for Hearing online, at your local SSA office, or by phone as listed above. The time it takes from when a Hearing is requested and when you appear at a hearing varies with each Hearing office due to their back logs. In the Little Rock Arkansas office it is currently running 400 days from the date of request for hearing to the date of the hearing. They are backlogged by 7,000 cases. Hire a good lawyer for this step. If denied you have 60 days to request an Appeals Council appeal.
4. Appeals Council - you may not file your request for appeal to the Appeals Council online. You must file it at your local SSA office or by phone as listed above. Your grounds are based, with exceptions, on how the Judge viewed the evidence that he had before him. Your lawyer will have made sure that he had proper evidence before him. It may take the Appeals Council anywhere between three months and thirty months or more to decide a claim. It is a long time. But you can file a second initial claim while your claim is being appealed at the Appeals Council. If denied you have 60 days to file Complaint in the United States District Court.
5. U.S. District Court - Complaints to Federal Court may be filed by your attorney or by yourself "pro se" through the U.S. Courts website. The defendant in the action, the Secretary of the Social Security Administration, will provide a transcript of the proceedings. Then the plaintiff's attorney writes a brief, the defendant's attorney writes a response brief, the plaintiff's attorney may respond and the Judge will make a ruling. The standard of review in Federal Court is whether there was "substantial evidence" to support the decision of the Administrative Law Judge. Federal Court cases can take one to two years.
Attorney Vammen handles appeals through the federal court level. Our attorney has a high success rate of reversing unfavorable decisions. If you do not appeal, your case will be dropped, and you will not receive the benefits you need. You may file a new claim as well as appeal. A new claim is not the same as an appeal. A new claim will not include the back benefits possibility that the appealed claim provides. You might not be eligible to receive SSD benefits if you file a new claim after your "date last insured".
Contact Our Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Claims Lawyer
Do you have any questions about the process of filing a disability benefits claim? We are ready to listen, ready to help and ready to win. To schedule your free initial consultation, call us locally at 501-205-0581 or toll free at 877-215-0151. You may also contact us online.
