THE TWILIGHT ZONE: WHY IS MY CASE TAKING SO LONG?

"Why is my attorney taking so long to get something done?" is a question we frequently hear.  Two or three times a week, someone calls me wanting to know if I will take their disability cases because they have been waiting for months and nothing seems to be happening.  They feel that their attorney is neglecting them.

Of course, this is not the case.  Once you file an appeal and ask for a hearing, it's not your attorney who sets the hearing date, it is the Office of Hearings Operation.  The judges schedule the hearing according to open dates on their dockets.

A wait of 18 to 24 months is typical.  During this time period there isn't anything happening at Social Security.  You have entered what I call the "twilight zone" of dead empty space.  Nothing is happening but a long, silent, maddening wait.

Your lawyer can't do anything to make the US government move any faster.  (We'd all like to)!  We can't change the fact that there are over 1 million claimants waiting on a hearing.  Or that there are only 1,200 administrative law judges in the United States.  We can't change the fact that Social Security schedules hearings strictly in the order in which appeals were filed--strictly first come, first served.

Waiting is especially difficult if you are one of those claimants with past due mortgages, unpaid rent or you need expensive medical treatment that you can't afford.  Since most Social Security disability claimants fall into one of these circumstances, the administration will not usually move one case ahead of the others.

Your lawyer or representative is just as frustrated with this long wait as you are.  If we file an appeal in 2018, we know that we will work it until sometime in 2020 before it settles and that we won't be paid one cent for 24 to 36 months.  We don't like that at all but there's nothing to be done about it.

Will changing lawyers help?  No, not at all.  It will not make your wait longer and it will not make the wait shorter.  I think switching lawyers comes to mind because it is the only thing the claimant can control.  However, it is usually not in the best interest of the case.  Changing representation just because you feel the wait has been going on too long is generally a bad idea.  Once you understand that the representative has no control over the waiting time, it becomes easier to see that switching attorneys makes no sense.

You should notify your representative if:

• you become homeless (have no place to stay)
• require emergency medical treatment you can't afford
• are diagnosed with a terminal illness and are told that you have less than 1 year to live

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E-Mail Me:   forsythefirm@gmail.com

Call Me:      (256) 799-0297