Should I Hire Another Lawyer?
 

I decided yesterday to fire my lawyer. I wrote him a nice little letter telling him that I was very dissatisfied with his service and that I no longer needed his service. I also sent a copy of the letter to SSDI. He made all kinds of promises about what he could do and he ain't done anything. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I talked on the phone yesterday with the person handling my appeal. She told me all she had gotten from him was medical records and the RFC form which I gathered up myself.

He hadn't asked for an expedited hearing or reconsideration or anything. I sent him a copy of a Letter of Dire Need 3 times in the past 2 months and he has not sent this to SSDI. This makes me think he just wants to drag his feet and let that back pay build up more. In the mean time, I'm sitting here worrying about how to hang on to what little I have.

The lady I spoke with on the phone said she had everything she needed and she was going to hand deliver my file to a decision maker right then. She said she couldn't guarantee anything but she did say that she definitely had enough evidence to prove my claim. She told me to send her the Letter of Dire Need ASAP. So it's on its way.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I should hire another attorney or just wait and see what happens now. I hate to give an attorney 25% of my back pay if I were to win after I have already done all the leg work. Anybody got any advice on this?

If you've already submitted all the paperwork....and you're just waiting for a decision...I personally would not hire another lawyer. BUT, if your appeal is denied, then I would definitely seek out another lawyer. One tip - we discovered that the office where adjudication hearings are held for our area maintains a rolodex of disability lawyers.

I have a fairly close family friend that is an attorney. He isn't a social security lawyer though. He looked at my medical records and everything else and said that according to the SSA Bluebook, I am definitely qualified for SSDI. He didn't think I should hire another lawyer until I hear from SSA. He said if he was a social security lawyer, he would jump on my claim with both feet.

One thing he did point out is, if the DDS office didn't look at everything on my claim as I found out. He thinks this is a clear violation of my rights, this happens to be his specialty, a person’s right to fair judgment. Right now, I'm putting myself into a holding pattern and just wait and see what happens next.

What appeal level are you at Rickey? Did you get the name of the person who said they would submit all this information. Sometimes they promise they'll do something and don't. I would call in a couple of days and try to find out what was done. Get peoples names and keep a log, what time and date you spoke with them.

I thought the same thing about promising and not following through. I called the same lady again today to ask her a question about the lawyer. She told me today that my file was with a senior attorney there awaiting his decision. I am in the first appeal process, the Adjudications and Appeals office is where all this is happening.

My lawyer got his letter today so he called me wanting to know why I fired him. I expressed my feeling about the whole situation, about the fact that I haven't seen any thing he did other than sending records to SSDI. I told him that if I had to pay him 2 to 3 thousand dollars, he could damn well keep me updated. He said that he had done a lot more than that behind the scene that I didn't know about.

Anyway, he said that if I got a favorable decision; he would file a fee petition to get his money. He made it clear that this is not the first time he was dismissed when a case was this close to being won. He said he has filed many fee petitions and he has always won. He said a client gets this close and figures out that he can out smart the attorney to keep from paying him. I never once thought about cheating him out of his part.

He said SSA gives him the right to do this fee petition. The lady I talked to today at SSDI said if he did file, a judge would have to review his petition and this could hold up my backpay for months in the event that I win. the lawyer could get up to 25% of the backpay if the judge rules in his favor.

I really don't know what to do now, hire him back or let him take part of my money without representing me. I have come to the conclusion that when you try to deal with any government organization, you loose ALL of your rights. They even protect the lawyer representing an individual better than they protect the individual himself.

Anyway, I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks, Rickey

He'll probably get the money anyway so you might as well tuck your tail and hire him back. JMO. It will save you from having to find another attorney you might not be happy with either. Good luck in whatever you decide. So you have to see an A.L.J or you have seen one?

atty percentages /fees?:confused:

I think how it works in the workers comp arena - if you do change attys and fire one and get another , they have to split the %...
I don't know how the division is made though, time spent on the claim or what..
they both wouldn't get the full 25% - or whatever the % is now for comp.

Maybe that is how this sharing of percentage works for this area.

I suppose it states how it is all handled on a website - SSDI gov website???maybe?
I know my state work comp website tells about how it is done for comp.
I didn't change my comp atty but looked into it briefly many yrs ago...

Can you ask the atty you fired if he would send you a brief update of what he has done so far for your claim - If you think you might keep him on.
Or to help you decide what the next step will be.

are you at the reconsideration stage or the alj level? if its reconsideration i would wait to see what they decide. There have been people on here who have won and not had to pay the lawyer because of the lack of proper representation by the lawyer. its important to know what stage you are at to make this decision.

I guess I'm at the ALJ level. There has been so many mistakes made with my claim both by me and SSDI. Thats why they are getting it reviewed by a senior decision maker now. I went ahead and hired this stupid lawyer back, if I have to pay him either way, whether he represents me or not, he might as well be on my side. He had the nerve to call me back and tell me I shouldn't be calling SSDI. I told him right quick to kiss my glutious maximus. It's my right to call SSDI to find out the status on my claim, the lawyer won't tell me anything.

If you never had a lawyer involved, I would consider trying to do it on my own to save the lawyer fees.....as you said, you did all of the work.

I would think seriously about getting another lawyer in your case....both because it is now at the ALJ level AND because if another lawyer gets involved, his documentation might pull more weight with the SSA to cut your old lawyer out of the picture or at least split that fee. I'm afraid the the old lawyer has made his case (or will do so) with SSA to claim that 25% of your backpay. If that 25% is going to be taken out anyway, I'd rather it go to the new lawyer. Even if they split it, that would be less for the guy who did nothing.

A new lawyer would have better knowledge/skills in determining what the old lawyer actually did or didn't do......and he would have the financial incentive to try to squeeze the old lawyer out of the equation.

It's a tough decision.....and just adding more stress that you don't need.

Take Care

I do have a lawyer finz. I fired him and then turned around and hired him back because either way, he says he can still get up to 25% of my back pay if I win and SSDI backs him up on this. If I hadn't hired him back and he filed a fee petition, this could hold up my back pay for months waiting for a judge to rule on the petition. I can't wait for months.

The lawyer told me that he knew that he could win the case or he wouldn't have taken my case to start with. I was told last Tuesday by the lady handeling my claim at the appeals office that my file was with a senior attorney now. My lawyer called me after he found out that I had been in contact with this appeals office and told me I didn't need to be calling them about my claim.

This just proves to me the fact that he don't won't me knowing the status of my claim so that he can draw it out several more months in order to get more of my backpay. How stupid does he think I am, this is as plain as the sun in the sky. He is not suffering like I am, he don't have to worry about paying bills, his wife don't go to him crying because there just isn't enough money to go around.

Not all but most social security lawyers are crooks, they are taking advantage of a sure fire case and lining their pockets. And they think people like me are too stupid to see this. I have learned in my case alone, this lawyer has not done one damn thing that I couldn't have done myself. But he has me pinned to the wall with the contract I signed to hire him. Because SSA backs the lawyer, there is not one thing I can do about it legaly. I did say LEGALY.

Yes Rickey, one of the difficult parts of all of this is you are dealing with
people who don't know chronic pain. You are a number, an interruption
in their day, or just another paycheck to them. It was 11 months
before my WC examiner spoke with me the first time, and then I
believe she accidentally answered the phone. Less than 45 days later,
my claim for compensation was denied, which was less than 30 day
from when I got the letter say I had 30 days for the dr to send support
for justifying my being unable to work. The letter was dated dec 12, I got it Jan 11/12, the examiner stated she should have sent the letter on nov 1. I truly was just an irritation in her schedule.

Now, I am going to have two lawyers, because my third party case lawyer won't touch US Dept of Labor.

I feel your 'pain'.
Pat

Not true.

My situation was a tad different than yours. I did NOT fire my attorney. I did not hire one until my ALJ hearing. Since I had copies of all of my medical records, my attorney basically had nothing to do but send for & complete some "state forms" that were needed for ALJ hearings in my state and to show up for the hearing. I did all of the leg work.
After I won my ALJ hearing (fully favorable decision), I wrote a letter to SSD explaining & detailing why I felt my attorney did not deserve to be paid in FULL. I also sent SSD copies of all copying & fax receipts plus a copy of my attorney's itemized bill as further proof.
Apparently SSD agreed w/me. He was NOT paid by SSD at all. However, I was responsible for my atty's OOP expenses which amounted to $250.00. :D