I would like to share something with the board, about using an attorney to get SSDI. I was recently awarded SSDI a couple of months ago. I used an attorney I thought. When I contacted and signed up with the attorney on 07/10/08, I had allready filed for SSDI, on 06/26/08. When signing with the attorney they had a form to sign which gave them authority to debit my bank account, for there fee. I "refused" to sign the form and said they understood why and did not push it. After 80 to 90 days I was awarded. I found out before the attorney did, by a week. A day after I recieved the award letter, the attorney called me to let me know and discused there fee. They wanted 300.00 and I said that sounds reasonable. They sent more papers to sign and I didnt. I wanted to see what SS, came up with. SS sent me the letter for the fee amount. Lo and Behold There was an attachment to the letter. I will put it below.



" Based on the extent and type of services provided and perfomed by the non-attorney not eligble for direct payment, the complexity of the issue, the level of skill required of the representative in providing the services, the amount of time spent on the case, the results the representative achieved, the level of review at wich a favorable determination was issued and the amount of time expended on this case, it is determined that a fee in the amount of $150.00 is fair compensation for the services provided in this claim. This is because the attorney was appointed nine days prior to SSA making a favorable decision on the case.
At the time the petition was filed, the non-attorney sought an amount of $300.00. The services shown on the clients ledger submitted with the SSA-1560 indicates 1.25 hours of services rendered from 06/26/08 to 07/06/08. However the attorney was appointed as representative around 07/10/08. Also, the ledger indicates the intial claim interview was conducted on five different dates.
Therefore, it is determined that a fee of $150.00 is a reasonable fee for the services provided to the client for the services performed from 07/10/08 through 09/24/08.
The non-attorney should look to the claimant for payment of the authorized fee."



I dont want to say who the attorney was, for fear of being sued, just paranoid. I will tell you this the first letter is "A". The reason for posting this is ,I am glad that I did not sign those bank/debit forms. It seems to me a lot of these national SSDI attorney firms are like a fine tuned production line in a factory. Just wanted to share. Thanks.

T&B

I am a fairly uneducated hillbilly, and I do mean hillbilly! I filed my own case by reading the SSA SSDI website, and speaking with the SSA people at the 800 number. I looked at 3-4 different "How to" sites and they were a little helpful. It seems as if you have a legitimate case, put your medical files in order and make them easy to read, and cooperate with SSA you never need an attorney. All they do is the same thing you can do yourself. File the claim, gather medical evidence, fill ou the forms, and return them in time.

Nobody need pay for that, as they are scumsucking leeches who feed on the income of people who really need help, not a moneysucking greedy slimeball with a "license" that allows them to take your money!

No offense meant to Attorneys who have served.

DMW:

Welcome to Hadit. There are many people who are intimadated by the claims process and from what I have seen the fees for attorneys who help with Social Security are usually reasonable.

The fact that there are attorneys helps all claims in my opinion.

So its my opinion that scum sucking Lawyers are needed to keep Social Security and the VA straight.

I found Social Security to be helpful and baxically all I did was fill out the paper work provide copies of VA Medical Records and go to see three different Docs and all was good.

The Lady who was with Texas Workforce Commission was an angel and she even coaxed me to not drop the claim.

Pete

Pete, I second your motion- We all too well know what happens when a government agency goes unchecked at the early and mid levels of the claims process. Chaos!

I hope everyone doesnt think I am bashing attorneys. I was merely trying to show what happened in my situation. When I applied for SSDI after about a week I thought to myself, maybe I should get an attorney. Because I did not want the stress with dealing with SS, about my claim. As it turned out I probably did not need them in the first place. But how could I know that from all the horror stories I have heard. The other thing I was trying to point out is that this attorney did not personally handle it was the secetary/legal aides that did, they just use the attorneys names. I have to say they cannot get overpaid when dealing wit h the SSA.

Well, I am bashing attorneys, especially in this area. Attorneys are not needed to check and balance the system. If the SSA ooffers them an award for their client, they would cover up irregularities better than employees who did it. I was solicited by 2 shortly after I filed my claim, imagine that, and they tried to convince me my claim would not be approved without the help of an attorney. I asked them how long to put a case together and they said 60-90 days, my claim was approved faster than that. I asked what were the chances of winning in my situation, they said extremely difficult. I never even had an exam, and claim was approved while I was still active begore doing exams for my VA claim. Did not even have a phone interview. The SSA was extremely helpful, and extremely easy to negotiate, if they do not follow rules there are departments within the SSA who will take care of that.

Sorry for the blast on any Veterans who are now lawyers but they are low lifes.

I would like to reiterate, I was posting this message only to show my experience with a national SSDI attorney firm. I wasnt dissatified or satisfied with them, they were just an entity that were involved because I hired them. I am not whining about it. I have used attorneys for various situations that I was involved in and most were positive. Regardless what the fees were. Some were exorbident and some not. I am glad I live in a country where I have the option to hire one. However if you hired someone that did not meet your expectations, you cannot blame someone else for it. You just have to grin and bare it and say maybe I should have did a little more homework.


Peace everone

T&B

T&B:

Nothing wrong with what you have done on this Board. There are good lawyers and than there are others. The VA has a chitload of Lawyers working for them.

Thanks Pete, Sometimes I feel that my posts are taking out of context. Just here for info and advice if need it or I can give it. Just trying to help and enjoy it.

come on tag, give the poor guy his 300 bucks, you know he has a car payment coming up hahahahahahahahaha

Got Ya Ricky My point to posting wasnt really about the money. I was trying to be subjective and point out that when they originally wanted the 300, I was not suprised. But when I saw that letter refering that SS was nine days out from a favorable decision and they only put 1.25 hrs into it. I was sort of amazed that if I did not hire the attorney. Possibly, I would have had the favorable decision at least 1-2 mos earlier and stress of waiting. I wouldnt have gotten the money any sooner, still would of waited till Sept.. Also I asked the attorney before the fee issue, if I could get copies of my records and disability determination. Get this they said they dont have any records. Go figure. Lesson learned is that sometimes its better to go it alone. All in all SS and the attorney were a pleasure to work with and I am impressed how SS monitors how fees are charged. It would be nice if there was some sort of agency that monitored all attorneys and how they charge for fees. On the other hand that could be leading to socialism and I wouldnt like that. Just some brain I food wanted to share, from a crazy vet.

I really wish that I had found this site earlier, but I kept finding advice to hire a NOVA lawyer.
I did not realize that SS reviews the fees charged by an attorney. I was under the impression that the lawyer recieved 25% of the backpay up to a maximum of $5,300. I have signed the 'letter' to have an attorney (NOVA) as a representative, and now I think I may have messed up big time.
I know this is for SS, but I have also retained the same lawyer for my NOD with the VA. And I have read that the attorney gets 20% of backpay owed with no maximum limit.
The backpays are pretty substantial, and I think I am going to end up paying through the nose. My thinking was that getting part of something was better than getting all of nothing. But since both cases are going through at the same time, neither one can be used to substantiate the other.

I've got to stop thinking...

i hired an attorney and he told me what to do .. and what i needed and suggested a doctor and i won... could i have won without an attorney .. who knows you roll the dice and you take your chances sometimes you win and sometimes you lose..

My mom had diabetes, cataracts so bad she was for all practical purposes blind but her health was so bad they didn't want to risk surgery on them, couldn't walk or drive and was an amputee of the left arm. After two years of no success, she hired an attorney and got her disability.

I ain't in that bad of shape. At least, I can get a recommendation from my bankruptcy attorney for a lawyer and stay away from the chains.

I have been debating whether or not to tackle starting the SS paper work directly myself or just start from scratch with a lawyer. It's fang tooth and claw with VA. I really don't need another full fledged battle on another front.

But I may just go ahead and follow it to the first denial on my own just to see what happens.

Your time to file for SS runs out quickly. File asap.

As of June 22, 2009:

"


Filing a fee agreement
If you and your representative have a written fee agreement, your representative may ask us to approve it any time before we decide your claim. Usually, we will approve the agreement and tell you in writing how much your representative may charge as long as:

<LI class=ninetypercent>You both signed the agreement; <LI class=ninetypercent>Your claim was approved and resulted in past-due benefits; and
• The fee you agreed on is no more than 25 percent of past-due benefits or $6,000, whichever is less. "

<A href="http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10075.html">

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10075.html

Old Hippie,
This is also a SSA topic thread and NOT A VA topic.
carlie

His ISP Address is clear. I think he is a real wise ass but I agree with suspension. How long is it and did you tell him why.

Pete

wait are you telling me that my attorney cant get more than 6,000 cause id get 3 years backpay and I had it figured shed get around 20,000. Am I understanding this right?

Tha maximum amount an attorney can get from a claim is 5300.00.

J