Paralegal filing disability application?

I need to file for disability, and after a lot of people's discouraging reports of denials, I decided to contact a lawyer's office to see if they could help with the initial application process instead of waiting for a denial.

There is an office in my area who refers all of their disability cases to their paralegal. I am assuming a paralegal is competent to file this application in the same way a lawyer would be, but I wanted to double check if anyone thinks this should be a concern or might not be my best option?

Yes ,, Lawyers always have the paralegals do the grunt work..

The only downside that I can see is that the paralegal is probably going to bill hours for all the phone calls and letter writing and photocopying that get done.

You might ask for a brief consultation with the lawyer who will be representing you at the judge hearing if things go to that stage. Even 15 minutes of the lawyer explaining how he/she would represent a case like yours, and what's important to prove your disability, would give you an idea whether you want that lawyer.

After the paralegal bills a lot of hours, it's difficult to switch to a different lawyer if you decide for some reason that you want to do that later on.

I had this happen to me in my first disability claim. I think it's probably not a common thing to happen, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Having said that, it's good to have someone to see all your paperwork and to make sure that Social Security actually puts it in your case file.

Thank you for the replies. I didn't think ahead to realize that maybe the paralegal is simply filing the application and not providing legal advice, so I'll have to decide whether to try applying on my own first or seeing if I can consult a lawyer.

The paralegal may also be providing legal advice and may be the one who will go with you to your judge hearing if you have one. There's no rule to say that it has to be a lawyer to do that. It usually is, but I think that's more custom than anything else.

I would check with a couple offices and see how they operate; sometimes you do the paperwork AND the paralegal helps/chivvies you along, making sure you fill things out completely and well, reminding you of deadlines, etc. or other lawyers don't even take your application until you have tried on your own and been rejected (so they can see what you are presenting and whether they think you have a case and have already done all the original "work").

I had a law firm help with my application for SSDI. I am quite sure that no lawyer at that firm ever lifted a finger to do any of the work for me or ever even heard my name. As far as I could tell, everything the firm did was done by clerks in the office. I got approved in 3 months. The lawyers would have stepped in, if I got denied. So it's not bad to be referred to a paralegal at your stage in the process.

There is a long form that has to be filled out describing your jobs, job failures, and your everyday life. When you fill that out, you need to know how to answer those questions. You need to be your own lawyer in filling out that form. I strongly recommend you buy a couple of books on the subject and start reading all you can on-line. Start watching presentations by lawyers on youtube. The paralegal might give you some tips, but I would recommend you educate yourself. Ideally, the lawyer should coach you on how to answer those qestions, but I don't believe any law firms provide that coaching, unless the lawyer is your brother. There may even be ethical constraints on what coaching they could provide. Most people screw that form up, get denied, and then the lawyer tries to straighten it all out, usually winning because the law office wouldn't even take your case, unless you met criteria that they associate with an 85% chance if getting your claim approved.

But the law clerks or paralegals are real good at rounding up the medical records and doing all the paperwork that doesn't require an intimate knowlege of your sittuation. They let you know what you have to do and when you have to do it.

I commend your decision to work with a law firm. I'm pretty good at paperwork, but I wouldn't want to have tackled all this on my own. Ask the firm if they waive fees, in the event that you fail to get approved. If they don't, you might want to switch to a big law firm that just does disability. The federal government tightly controls what law firms can charge you. They can't charge much at all, if you don't ultimately get approved. Furthermore, if you get approved quickly, they may not make a dime on you. That could be another reason why they don't sit you down and counsel you on how to fill out that big set of forms on your daily life. There's plenty of free counsel on the Internet and at the library. Avail yourself of it. I did and filled out that form, knowing what they needed to hear. I got approved in 3 months, anf I didn't pay the law firm a penny.