Hmm. Ok. Well, if you filed the Federal Case and started the 2nd application prior to the rule changing that you could no longer concurrently pursue both, and you're still waiting for a Federal Court date, and have filed everything required in a timely fashion, than you were hypothetically protecting your onset date. The law changed in July of 2010, I believe. I can scrounge up the date if you need me too... If you let the Federal Court case lapse, this is a moot point.

Instead of focusing on the appeal, at this point you need to focus on providing the needed information to prove you're severely disabled enough to qualify for SSDI. Please read my posts and links on pg 5 of the sticky "don't start your claim unprepared."

In theory your attorney should handle everything you need to prove your case. In reality, they don't want to spend the time for the difficult cases. In many ways, I think using non-attorney SSDI reps are often a better choice.

My case was drawn out longer than yours, and I received a Partially Favorable Decision with an attorney, and then won a Fully Favorable decision with a 2nd application before an ALJ. Severals things held up my approval... When I finally sat down and went through the step by step process SS uses to determine disability, it became very clear that I had focused on things I thought were important, as opposed to addressing what SS cared about--some of which was not at all logical.

You're getting another opportunity to bring new medical evidence to the ALJ. Don't squander it. You REALLY need to know what onset date you're arguing. And even if you let the 1st application lapse, it does become a part of the record, so be prepared to address any issues from it as well.

Good luck.