Social Security Lawyers

Benefit of Attorney Representation

Marasco & Nesselbush, Rhode Island’s premier Social Security disability (SSI SSDI) law firm, is extremely helpful and successful in obtaining Social Security benefits for claimants with disabilities. National statistics show that claimants with legal representation have a substantially greater likelihood of receiving an award of disability benefits than claimants who proceed without an attorney.

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Applying for Social Security disability benefits without an attorney can be a difficult, daunting and overwhelming process. A missed deadline may mean that you have to start the process over again. A missed deadline or unfavorable decision after your “date last insured” has expired may mean that you are forever precluded from applying again. Do not let this happen to you. Don’t become a victim of the system.

The skilled lawyers at Marasco & Nesselbush can and will ease your way during the application and appeal processes. Whether you live in RI or MA, we at Marasco & Nesselbush have developed effective strategies to obtain important medical opinion evidence to support your disability claim. When we represent you, we will communicate with your physician(s) to obtain helpful medical and legal evidence of your disability. Over the years, we have developed valuable physician questionnaires to enable your doctor(s) to meaningfully and easily support your claim for SSI or SSDI benefits. We will advise you regarding the application process, we will appeal a denial, if any, we will review your case to determine if you qualify for an expedited decision, we will prepare you and accompany you to your hearing before the Administrative Law Judge and, once approved, our lawyers will continue to advocate for you until you receive your retroactive and monthly benefits. Without Marasco & Nesselbush, you may be unnecessarily denied, your case may take longer than it needs to, or you may not receive all the benefits to which you are legally entitled. Do not let any of these things happen to you. Call us today for a free consultation. We make the difference.

Attorney’s Fees

We charge no fee unless and until we win your case and obtain Social Security disability benefits for you. When we win, our fee is twenty-five percent (25%) of retroactive benefits. The Social Security Administration will automatically withhold our twenty-five percent (25%) fee, and will send you the remaining seventy-five percent (75%) of your retroactive benefits. You, the claimant, will then begin receiving your full, monthly Social Security disability check(s) each month, into the future, with absolutely no additional fees to Marasco & Nesselbush.

Our fee is a one-time payment, made automatically by the Social Security Administration, of 25% of your retroactive benefits. There may also be a cost to obtain medical evidence supporting your claim. Costs for obtaining your medical records are generally low and are different from legal fees for doing the legal work on your case. Marasco & Nesselbush always tries to obtain medical evidence for either no cost or for as low a cost to you as possible.

The Process

Introduction

Life for someone living with a disability can be difficult enough. When a person feels unable to work due to a physical or mental impairment and chooses to apply for Social Security disability benefits, a myriad of medical, psychiatric, psychological, legal, social, cultural and financial forces conspire. Below is information about the process.

To render a disability determination, the Social Security Administration employs a well known five step sequential analysis. Step 1 of the sequential analysis is the question: are you working? If a claimant is working and earning at a level of “substantial gainful activity,” s/he is, by definition, not disabled. At Step 2 of the sequential analysis, if the claimant is not working, a decision is then made as to whether the claimant has a “severe impairment.” This is essentially a de minimus standard to weed out frivolous claims. At Step 3, a determination is made as to whether the claimant meets or equals in severity a listed impairment. If s/he does, the claimant will be found disabled. After Step 3, but prior to Step 4, a determination as to the claimant’s “residual functional capacity” is made. Once “residual functional capacity” is established, at Step 4 a determination is made as to whether the claimant can return to her/his “past relevant work.” If the claimant can return to her/his “past relevant work,” unless a GRID rule applies, s/he will be found not disabled. If it is determined at Step 4 that the claimant cannot return to her/his “past relevant work,” at Step 5 a determination is made as to whether the claimant retains the “residual functional capacity” to perform any other type of work which exists in significant numbers in the regional or national economies.(See 20 CFR 404.1520).

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Initial

After Social Security personnel complete the application process, the “initial” application is sent to Disability Determination Services (DDS), a state agency under contract with the federal government to make disability determinations. The DDS claims examiner assembles the claimant’s medical records and any other medical evidence of disability, and the case is sent to a DDS reviewing physician for a disability determination. The claim is then sent back to the local Social Security District Office for the issuance of a Notice of Initial Determination.

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Reconsideration

If denied, the claimant has the right to file a “Request for Reconsideration,” at which time the file will be returned to DDS to a new claims examiner for additional development of the medical record, if necessary, and for a second disability determination by the DDS reviewing physicians. The file is then again sent back to the Social Security local District Office for issuance of a “Notice of Reconsideration.”

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Hearing

If denied again at the reconsideration level, the claimant has the right to Request a Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge at the Office of Hearings and Appeals. The average delay from the filing of a Request for Hearing to the scheduling of the hearing varies but currently is approximately sixteen (16) to eighteen (18) months at the Providence Office of Hearings and Appeals. At the hearing, the ALJ often employs the services of medical and vocational experts to provide expert opinion evidence as to the claimant’s medical condition, residual functional capacity, and ability to work, including statistical data regarding the existence and incidence of jobs the claimant could perform, despite his/her impairment. After the hearing is held, the average processing time for the issuance of a decision is anywhere from one to six months.

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Appeals Council

If the ALJ issues an Unfavorable Decision, the claimant can file a Request for Review with the Appeals Council. The Appeals Council is located in Falls Church, Virginia and handles Requests for Review of Unfavorable Decisions (at the hearing level) for the entire country. With rare exception, the Request for Review entails a written Memorandum of Law, alleging factual and/or legal errors.

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District Court

If the Appeals Council affirms the ALJ’s Unfavorable Decision, the claimant has the right to file a complaint for relief in the United States District Court (USDC) for the district in which s/he resides.

Helpful Numbers

Local Social Security Offices

Department of Human Services

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