when to get a lawyer
 

denied initial claim. should i get a lawyer for the recon phase or wait until the ALJ if it gets to that?

On my wife's first rejection I hired a lawyer. Everything eventually worked out for the better.

It's probably best to wait until after a decision is made about Reconsideration is made.

You should request a copy of your file on CD from SS and go through it to see if there are any missing medical records though, as well as reading through to see if there are errors and if your doc/s are documenting everything they need to. The first one is free.