There IS an incentive for attorneys to maximize the $6400 fee (or whatever it is currently). I don't personally think it is that time consuming to write an appeal to the Appeal's Council, but since SS allows for higher fees at that point, it is what it is. Most attorneys won't even go forward to the Appeal's Council--and 25% of all backpay would be fair at that point IMO.

You want an attorney that specializes in disability law. WC and/or LTD in addition to SSI/SSDI would be fine, but if he has a more generalized practice, I'd keep looking.

I'm not sure where you are in the process, but it's often more about your medical documentation than legal wrangling frankly. So, you want someone (and that someone can even be you if you want to learn the system) that can determine how close you are to approval.

This is a helpful site for DIY's http://www.ssdfacts.com/forum/ and having used an attorney and subsequently been awarded a Fully Favorable decision without representation, my best advise is to move forward learning everything as if you don't have an attorney, even when you do. You will be your best or worst advocate, depending on how much you learn.