BAEC Bulletin - March/April 2023

32 | March/April 2023 | BAEC Bulletin

Persistance Pays Off for Claimants in Six-Year Battle to Get SSDI By Christopher J. Grover

Representing Social Security Disability (SSD) claimants sometimes feels like you and your clients have been condemned to the same punishment as Sisyphus — roll a rock uphill, it rolls back down, repeat. More than six years ago, I was retained by two individuals who applied for SSD benefits within months of each other. Neither of these clients could ever return to work, but both were forced to take

testimony from two separate medical experts whose consensus was the same: my client was too ill to work. Both of these individuals and their families struggled medically, financially, and mentally for over six years, yet both kept faith in a system that had promised to pay them if they became disabled. Both met the employment criteria of the SSA, having worked and paid into the Social Security system. The problem — in spite of the abundance of medical records presented in each case — lay in getting before a judge who would look at those records and award a favorable decision. I see many strong cases rejected for a variety of reasons. As frustrating as these journeys were for all involved, the important factors were that my clients knew they couldn’t go back to work, and they had no choice but to put their trust in the system they paid into to cover themselves for this exact purpose. Ultimately, they knew we believed in them and kept faith we wouldn’t stop pushing the rock back up the hill. Christopher J. Grover is a claimant representative at Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys. He is also past chair of the Disability Committee of the Bar Association of Erie County.

the long road to secure benefits. It took six years, a combined seven hearings in front of seven judges, and five appeals (two to Federal Court), until these two clients were awarded SSD benefits — within days of one another. These cases (taking 2,361 days and 2,303 days, respectively) far exceeded the average processing time of 450 days. Although there were very few similarities between the cases, they had similar trajectories, and both stories shed a light on the difficulties the majority of claimants face when applying for SSD benefits The first client was a former U.S. Army combat medic who enlisted in the wake of 9/11 and served his country for more than eight years. He had a 100 percent disability rating from the Veterans Administration (VA) when we filed his SSD claim. His diagnoses included post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic impairments, a heart condition, fibromyalgia, and connective tissue disorder. The VA provided him with an electric scooter, and his wife received a stipend as his formal caretaker. His SSDI claim, however, was denied by three separate judges who had access to his entire VA medical file. After several years and multiple appeals to Social Security’s Appeals Council, the United States District Court (USDC) remanded the case for a fourth (and final) hearing. At that point, his medical record consisted of more than 2,000 pages. The Judge assigned a Medical Expert to the case who reviewed the entire record and testified the client clearly met the requirements for SSD. After years of fighting, my client was able to get the benefits that he deserved. The second client suffered from chronic pancreatitis, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. He was hospitalized after experiencing anoxic brain damage, when he was subjected to a medically induced coma for three weeks. He has ongoing memory issues, cognitive impairments, and severe abdominal pain. His case was denied, appealed, and remanded three separate times. His doctors provided medical evidence and opinions that he was unable to work. The Judge assigned to his final hearing took

For more information on protecting your income, your family, and your practice, contact Bar Association of Erie County DISABILITY INSURANCE PROTECTION Because your family depends on you 4300 Camp Rd PO Box 460 Athol Springs, NY Phone: 716-627-5400 Fax: 716-627-5420 E-mail: insurance@ sellersinsurance.com Visit our website at www.sellersinsurance.com Underwritten by: Life Insurance Company of Boston & New York, Athol Springs, NY. This policy provides disability income insurance only. It does not provide basic hospital, basic medical or major medical insurance as defined by the New York State Insurance Department. The expected benefit ratio for this policy is 60%. This ratio is the portion of future premiums which the company expects to return as benefits, when averaged over all people with this policy. See the Product Brochure and/or Policy Form DIC-N (0900) NY for details concerning policy benefits, limitations and exclusions. CJS671 8/21 Exp. 8/23

Powered by