As election time nears, it is time for the Social Security Administration to become the whipping board of all the politicians once again.  At every election time, particularly the Presidential Election, one of the major issues presented by the candidates is the never-ending problem of how to manage the fiscal expenditures of the United States.  Since one of the big ticket items that is always out there is the Social Security System, as part of everybody’s agenda they advocate “reforms”.  As we all know, usually “reforms” means somebody gets screwed.  I still recall when Ronald Reagan was elected and one of the first acts was to kick about half a million people off of Disability.  At the hearing offices (at that time called the Office of Hearings and Appeals) they increased the red-tape so badly that the ODAR Office went from what was originally one of the best in the Country to where it is now, dead last, as far as processing cases.  It became so bad that I had to wait in an outside office before a “guy” could take me to my “courtroom”.  The fact is, I’d been walking into the hearing rooms for 15 years and I think myself, and most everybody else, pretty well knew where these courtrooms were.  With an election in front of us, we will have some trepidation as to what the next “reform” may be.  There are tens of thousands of people employed in the Social Security Administration which causes a huge ripple effect and often results in delay or denial of benefits for recipients.  I would advise you to listen to the candidates.  Anytime somebody talks about reducing Social Security costs it usually means they are taking money away from somebody.

The new rankings are out for the hearing offices.  These rankings are based on how long it takes to have a hearing after the hearing has been requested.  At the time of this post, the best hearing office in the country is in Shreveport, Louisiana and the waiting period there is 172 days.  The worst hearing office in the country is Missouri, the hearing office serving most of my clients, where the waiting period is 470 days.  What that means is, unfortunately, there is usually a long wait involved to get a hearing unless there are extraordinary circumstances where an expedited hearing might be in order.

The Peoria, Illinois office which services Central Illinois has a waiting period of 351 days.  The Evansville, Indiana office, which services much of Southern Illinois and Indiana and other points has a statistical waiting period of 378 days for hearings.  There are other hearing offices that service surrounding areas that also have substantial waiting periods for hearings.  This normally places great hardships on claimants and counsel since people understandably do not know why it would take so long to get a hearing.

I will be posting these blogs to keep you updated about the Disability World, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or our website for further updates.

It seems that nobody can leave well enough alone in the world of Social Security.  There’s been much resistance to the newly instituted policy of  advising who the Judge is going to be for a hearing until one actually shows up for the hearing. Obviously, this has been objected to very strongly by practicing Attorneys for multiple reasons since it greatly affects the ability to adequately represent a client. Ostensibly, the reason for the rule is to prevent Attorneys from “forum shopping” in trying to get a favorable Judge.  One of the reasons you get an Attorney is because that Attorney is familiar with the Judges and their idiosyncrasies.  There are some Judges that I absolutely will not try a case with if I can avoid it.  It is not unusual to find some Judges that have a denial rate of 80% – 90% of their cases or more.  I just can’t advise a client to go ahead with a Social Security hearing when the Judge is going to look for any possible reason to deny the claim.   

There is a website provided by the Social Security Administration which gives the “allowance rates” of the various Administrative Law Judges.  This is one of the resources I routinely use and have used in the past in advising my clients on what the most appropriate course of action might be.  I personally think a client’s chance for a fair hearing should not depend on playing “Russian Roulette” with what Judge shows up.  Currently, the National Organization for Social Security Claimant’s Representatives (NOSSCR) is attempting to get this Social Security rule changed.

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The question of appealing an adverse decision by an Administrative Law Judge is a lot more complex now than it used to be.  In the past we used to tell our clients to file a new claim while an Appeal was pending.  Due to new policy, we can’t do that.  In the event you file an Appeal, filing a new claim is prohibited.  Because of the time frame involved, this greatly complicates the decision on whether to Appeal an adverse determination since from a practical perspective, one may have a better likelihood of winning a claim by refiling than by waiting to see the outcome of the Appellate process which can take well over a year.  We discuss these cases in depth with our clients before making the decision either way.

It looks like the claimants for Social Security Disability are once again going to be reviewed by the Congressional House Ways and Means Committee on Social Security and Human Resources.  There are many issues present including the funding of the disability trust fund, which could turn into political football.  The main issues that seem to be the focus concern SSI for Minor Children.  We will just have to wait and see what shakes out of this.

Check back in with us for updates.

I would like to invite everyone to visit our new website that can be accessed by drummondlawllc.com or simply clicking through the link here or the links posted on our facebook page or twitter account which can be accessed by searching Drummond Law.

Social Security Disability Attorneys that work for you!
 

The Drummond Law office was founded by Pete Drummond in 1976. After finishing his undergraduate work at Knox College in Galesburg, IL, Pete Drummond attended the University of Illinois School of Law, graduating in 1973. He became the first law clerk in the 4th District Appellate Court under the then new clerk program that had recently been instituted. 
 

He also clerked for the Supreme Court, while they were considering hiring clerks of their own.  Mr. Drummond worked as a prosecutor from 1980 through 1990 as a contract attorney for the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor Project while engaging in the private practice of law.

Mr. Drummond founded Drummond Law LLC with the goal of representing the injured, disabled and down-trodden.  Since that time, Mr. Drummond and Drummond Law, LLC has successfully tried more than 10,000 Social Security Disability cases in addition to various injury-related civil litigations. At Drummond Law, the Attorneys and staff are highly trained, knowledgeable and courteous.

Drummond Law developed sets of forms and procedures that increase a Claimant’s chance of winning. At Drummond Law, your Social Security Disability Attorneys, there is no fee charged unless we win your case. At Drummond Law, you are not a number to us, we return your phone calls and we are only a phone call away to answer your questions. We represent real people, not corporations. IF YOU HAVE A CASE AND CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE, GIVE US A CALL. We are here to help you!
 

• 33 Years Experience as Social Security Disablity Attorneys
• We Have Tried and Won Thousands of Cases
• We Know the Process
• We Appeal Cases To Higher Courts Including Federal and State Court
• We Can Do Everything By Phone and Mail If You Can’t Make it to Our Office
• WE HAVE A HIGHLY TRAINED STAFF
• WE RETURN YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS PROMPTLY