How do I decide what lawyer should represent me in my Social Security disability appeal?
TV ads and internet searches offer a dizzying array of choices when it comes to finding a legal representative for your Social Security disability appeal. How do you choose?
While marketing is necessary in any business, and we do our share, the best marketing does not mean the best product – ever. First, don’t assume that law firms who pay to run the largest number of ads on TV have the best Social Security disability lawyers. Second, don’t assume that the best Social Security disability attorneys will be found on the first page of a Google search. Many law firms and marketing businesses are simply paying search engines to be placed at the top of their lists of search results.
In comparing your alternatives, we suggest that you consider the following:
If you place a call or make contact on a web site, are you being put directly in touch with the Social Security disability attorney who will represent you? Many TV ads and web sites at the top of search results on the internet direct you to marketing businesses, not law firms. These companies hope to sign up your case, intending to bid out your actual legal representation to contract lawyers or even non-lawyers scattered around the country. If you sign with one of these companies, you probably won’t meet this attorney or advocate, or even know who that person is, until you are almost in the lobby of the courtroom on the day of your disability hearing. Most of these representatives do very little themselves to supervise the preparation of your case for presentation at your disability hearing.
How many times has the lawyer you are contacting appeared in the local courtroom where your disability appeal will be heard?There are many fine and experienced attorneys in the country who are knowledgeable about Social Security Disability appeals and SSI appeals. But although the law is the same throughout the country, each judge is different. Knowledge about your individual judge and the local staff and local court rules governing the appeal process definitely gives the experienced local attorney the edge. Having the “home court advantage” can help in most competitions, and disability hearings are no different.
Are you going to be represented in court by a senior member of the firm or a junior associate? Lots of national law firms claim that they are the big, and that they handle thousands of cases all over the country. But frankly, the law firm you select will only be as good as the individual Social Security disability attorney who will handle your case.If the giant nationwide law firm is flying a first-year associate into town on court day to do disability hearings, the size of that law firm is going to be a sorry substitute for actual courtroom experience and preparation.
At the Law Offices of Goss & Fentress, we have six senior attorneys who have over 150 years of combined experience handling disability hearings with your local Social Security Administrative Law Judges. We won’t assign you to a first year or junior associate because we don’t have any. We have our offices in Norfolk, Virginia, Newport News, Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, Camp Springs, Maryland and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where we meet with you in person during your Social Security disability appeal. We appear almost daily in Social Security disability hearings in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, Richmond, Virginia, Norfolk, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina.
If you’re trying to decide who to hire for your Social Security disability appeal, give us a call and ask us about our experience. We think you’ll be satisfied with our record.
