Wait I'm confused, you went to the appeals council, claim denied, and back to an ALJ and denied? If you were at the appeals council stage then why didn't your attorney go to the Federal Court? I think at this stage you have nothing to lose. Like you said that's actually where they use statutes and case law and not policy. IMO your attorney is wrong about proceeding to the Federal Courts, I have done it and read it somewhere but can't find it right now. I will keep looking though. Maybe your attorney is afraid to go to the Federal level because it's expensive and time consuming and if you lose he is stuck with all the expensive. It's just my opinion but you only have 60 days and need to make a decision.

ok Christian, here it is I found it.

(6) Expedited appeals process. At some time after your initial determination has been reviewed, if you have no dispute with our findings of fact and our application and interpretation of the controlling laws, but you believe that a part of the law is unconstitutional, you may use the expedited appeals process. This process permits you to go directly to a Federal district court so that the constitutional issue may be resolved.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Hom...5/405-0701.htm

The way I read Christian's post, he is disputing the findings of fact and disputes the application and interpretation of controlling laws. So how can this expedited appeals process be utilized when your definition says it is to be used when someone has no dispute with the finding of fact and interpretation of law.

What is unconstitutional about his denial?

I would site constitutional law and disability discrimination, probably argue the equal protection clause. Of course I would have to see his evidence, he says he can't use his arms, he has doctors to testify to this. I really don't need to put that much thought into it because he has an attorney and hopefully will win soon.

Because the first attorney refused to take it there, the second attorney(current one)advised just filing an entirely new claim, which I did in 07, resulting in yet another ALJ denial.
Further, once you've been denied by an ALJ you're unlikely to get another ALJ from the same office to overturn him on even an entirely new claim, this for obvious reasons.
My current attorney of record has not offered an opinion one way or another, he's ducking my messages, I contacted two other SSDI attorneys and they both said you must first appeal to SSA in Falls Church and be turned down before moving on to federal court.
There are very, very few attorneys that will actually sue the SSA on your behalf, very few!

If he hasn't written a letter saying he won't represent you anymore than he is still on the hook. I would call and demand to talk to him or tell them you're going to call the bar. If he's going to ignore you anyway might as well, make him squirm. Do you think you could write something up with the Appeals Council just to keep your case going, because after sixty days they are going to totally drop you. The Appeals Council requires you to write a brief. Do you know how to write one? Did you call SS to see if maybe there is someone who could help? Let me know, I have written several briefs and it's hard work, I could help guide you through it. I found the law it's expedited appeal process. It's on page 2 towards the bottom. It's better to use the four appeals because your chances of winning are better. Once your in Federal Court that's pretty much the end.

Christian - make sure you or your rep files the Appeals Council request within the 60 day time period. Keep searching for an attorney to take your case to federal court if your current rep is unwilling to do so. You are right that the Appeals Council will take an inordinate amount of time to make a decision and hopefully in that time, you can find an attorney will to take on your claim in the 4th quarter.

You haven't mentioned SSI, but perhaps at this point, your assets and income may now be low enough for your to meet the income and resource limits for SSI and you can file a new claim for SSI only WHILE the prior claim drags on through the administrative and court appeal process. I don't know enough about your income and resources to even guess about your eligibility. If you want to send a private message, I may be able to make a good guess.

Are you sure that your Date Last Insured did not get extended by any little bits of part-time work done in the last five years?

Having a favorable 2010 disability decision won't change the decision made by the ALJ, but it could be a small factor in a finding of a later onset date (but before DLI) if your case does go to federal court.

Whatever you do, don't put a great deal of reliance on me or any other anonymous posters. We may all be giving less than accurate advice since all any of us know about your case is what you tell us.