I hired a lawyer at first. He did nothing. I fired him. Filed myself and was awarded in 4 months. Currently I have been told that most people are turned down the first time and that is when they get a lawyer. Keep all your doctor info. In state of NJ SS collects info from docs. This can be a problem because a lot of doc's are really slack. You can contact your SS advocate (the person assigned to your case) and find out the progress or your lawyer can. Wait time is by state. I hear it is getting longer. A lawyer can tell you. Good luck.