Social Security

 

Contact the MichiganLawsuit.com Michigan social security law office to get approved for social security benefits

 

The MichiganLawsuit.com Michigan lawsuit office primarily handles Social Security claims that come in two forms: claims for Social Security Disability and Social Security Insurance. Social security disability is geared toward paying benefits to individuals with substantial work histories who have lost their ability to work, while Social Security Insurance is similar but typically pays less benefits and requires a lack of significant income or assets to be eligible.

   Eligibility under either social security program requires that a social security claimant be disabled. For purposes of qualifying for social security disability or social security insurance, disability is defined as the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. To determine a social security claimant’s capabilities, the Social Security Administration performs a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) assessment.

   The RFC assessment combines law and fact; it is a combines legal and medical evaluation. It employs charts that utilize factors such as age, diagnoses, educational background, and work history to determine whether a social security claimant is disabled or not disabled. However, many social security claimants do not fit neatly into the charts, so when the Social Security Administration denies a social security claim, our Michigan lawsuit attorneys can often argue that our social security clients more appropriately fit into a different area of the chart, thereby allowing our social security clients’ claims to be approved.

Michigan lawsuit attorneys are often retained after the Social Security Administration has denied a social security claimant’s initial social security claim, at which point the Michigan lawsuit attorney pursues an appeal. The appeal stage involves an administrative law judge (ALJ) to decide the social security claim, and the lawsuit attorney typically gathers all of the social security claimant’s medical records, organizes the information therein, and applies the facts to the law to argue that the social security claimant fits into the charts at a point at which the social security claim should have been approved. If the social security claim is denied at this ALJ level, then a review by the Social Security Appeals Council may be requested. The Appeals Council takes a similar approach as the ALJ to evaluating claims – using the aforementioned charts, so outcomes are often not different at this level. However, the next level of review is Federal Court.

   A key distinction between social security claims at the lower levels and the Federal Court level is that it is prior case law, rather than the aforementioned social security disability determination guidelines and charts, that are determinative. Therefore, decisions on social security claims that are arguably consistent with social security disability determination standards may be reversed at the federal court level when the decisions contradict prior social security case law. Having a skilled Michigan lawsuit attorney with knowledge of social security case law is the key to a disabled person winning a social security claim at the federal court level. To speak with a Michigan lawsuit attorney, contact MichiganLawsuit.com at (855) LAW-MICH.



Ross Gilders

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