You said you help people get benefits, yet you provide incorrect information. Lawyers have been able to charge fees for representation for decades. The maximum fee has changed over the years, but it has always been 25% of retroactive benefits up to the cap; $4000, $5300 and now $6000.

Attorneys can also petition the Social Security Administration for a higher fee. Happens more often if they go to District Court, two levels above the ALJ.

Attorneys do not have a great deal of control over the length of the appeals process. There is alot of time that a case sits and waits to be assigned to disability examiner or an ALJ. There is alot of time that is spent waiting for medical treating sources to respond. There are a lot of cases in the pipeline. In a dire need case, a claim can be moved ahead of the others, but everyone who is waiting is in need.

The fee agreement has to be signed by both parties before a decision is made and before a fee is approved. No one should sign a contract that they don't agree with. But legal expertise costs money. Lawyers need to pay their bills too. They can work on a case for years and get no money at all if it is never approved.