Gabbycakes, Her short term was paid by the employer at full wage by her company. The lawyer Suzy has is supposed to be one of the best in Northern VA. The issue maybe two fold with me doing some of the leg work. I am my wife's advocate and do many stressful things for her and the other is we are dealing with a private company not a government agency. Having the exployee and or spouse gather personal data from the private sector may be easier and quicker. I do like this lawyer except I did get taken aback when she seemed to agree with SS that this so called "short term disability pay" seemed high.