Read If Your Planning To File For Ssdi.

[tagandbag]

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

[DMW]

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.

[Pete53]

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

[poolguy11550]

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!

[tagandbag]

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.

[DMW]

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.

[tagandbag]

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