There are a couple of instances where they can request higher fees. If you fire them and hire new counsel is one. And in the instances of state or federal court.

Here is an example of a fee agreement and as you can see they do allow exceptions.
http://www.ssa.gov/representation/mo...guage.htm#sb=3

If a person's case proceeds to the Appeal's Council or Federal Court level, it is not uncommon for attorneys to simply drop their clients, particularly at the Federal Court level where you really NEED an attorney.


When you read a link like this: http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/question16.html
they avoid the exceptions, so it's no surprise that the situation's confusing. And honestly, I'd link to that page and not explain the exceptions in most cases. --While I know attorney's can ask for higher fees at the Appeal's Council stage they won't necessarily from my understanding, and they do have to justify their time. --I was under the impression the higher fees are a given at the Federal Court stage. Also, if an error at the ALJ level is not readily apparent and someone has to go through an audio file of a hearing or a transcript hunting it could ending up being a major project though, so the exception option would make sense. I would think an attorney would be able to let you know before moving forward how complicated such an appeal would be--and the more difficult, the more they can justify extra fees. A beneficiary can always contest their attorney's fees, btw. (One of the regular poster's on this forum did just that successfully--maybe left handed or ms. migraine?)

Remember it is also a common tactic of ALJ's to agree to a Fully Favorable decision if the applicant agrees to a later Alleged Onset Date. Since the vast majority of successful appeal's are simply remands, the attorneys often end up with reduced fees that way as well.

My personal feeling is that the SS fee agreement policy encourages attorneys to lengthen the process to collect their max fees. It's also become pretty common for people to say, "You won't be approved until you get before a judge." As Janke points out, about 30% of claimants are approved at the first stage. If a person does the minimum with the expectation their attorney can only win benefits for them, they'll be on the path to a long and frustrating experience. I often encourage people to explore non attorney representation because if you can find a good one, they often seem to be willing to work harder and earlier in the process.

what am i wood?

I believe that there is still a max of 25% of benefits plus costs if appealed to Federal court. The cap of $6000 does not exist at the Federal court appeal level from what I have researched. I would post the link but the 2 tries I made of posting links has not worked for me. Remember, I am not computer savvy. The links show but do not work. Not sure what I am doing wrong so I did not try this time.

Thank you Hopeless! That is great information. So I'm seeing that there are a great deal of varying factors when it comes to reimbursing a representative/attorney.
Thank you so much for finding those links

Re: posting links - the easiest way I do it is to right-click on the address bar up top (http://yaddayadda.com) when you are on the website. When you right click on it, it will turn blue and you'll get a dropdown box with options. Click on the 'copy'. Then go to the post that you want to add that link and right click again. You'll see the same box of options. Just click on 'paste' and there you have it!
Hope that helps?

I appreciate you!
Rae

For me, dealing with docs who were dismissive of my complaints of severe pain and having people question my "invisible disability" nd why I was applying for SSDI, often made me feel very defensive. In that mindset, it can be easy to take offense where none was intended.

What was written in the original post shows some basic knowledge of the process and certainly makes it look like you believe this lawyer's additional fees if a case goes beyond the ALJ stage are not standard. Please don't be upset that someone read your first post as more than JUST a question if these extra fees were standard. We are all trying to give an answer that we think will most help a poster.

My short answer to JUST the question of if that clause is standard is: NO.

I don't think that's the MOST helpful answer I could give bsed on everything else that you wrote in your op. I hired the only lawyer that I met with and he didn't have that clause. I haven't read on here, in my years reading/participating in this forum, about any lawyer legally charging more for a case going further.

I believe the SSA rule to be that they can charge up to (although I've never heard of a lawyer charging under) 25% of the award with a cap of $6000 PLUS certain misc fees (like for copying medical records, etc). I don't THINK the SSA makes exceptions for cases that go to the federal level, but I don't KNOW that for sure. You'd have to check that out with the SSA or hopefully one of the more knowledgeable posters here will share that info. I ws under the impression that the lawyers who do SSDI cases will have a few cases that they may only have to do minimal work on, which they'll still get paid the $6000 for if the backpay award is sufficient, and some cases that they will be required to do significantly more work on, but that it all balanced out to the $6000 being a reasonable pay stipend when multiplied by all of the cases they manage.

I would be leery of someone who charged more. I don't doubt the time they they would have to put into a case that went to the federal level would be significant, so they could be "losing" money if they were capped at $6000. I've just been under the impression that that's a risk they take when they take on a case and that they must weigh the likelihood of approval of each case before they take on each case. I would question, as you have stated you have, what their incentive would be to try to close a case quickly if they could draw it out to get more money (not that that would be ethical).

I thought the suggestion that you seemed to have some doubts about this lawyer so you should keep looking was a good one. At a minimum, you should find out if the SSA sanctions that extra fee contingency AND see if any local SSDI lawyers don't charge it.

In another post you mentioned you were thinking this will be your lawyer. What about him made you feel comfortable and confident with his abilities ? Did you get to talk about your concerns about the extra fees being standard ?

This is such a stressful process on top of dealing with the medical factors with a disability. Finding a lawyer that you feel comfortable with is crucial. None of us needs MORE stress from any source. Best wishes getting through the process.

Hi Rrae,

I do not know if I am allowed to post this information, so first, I am asking the moderators to review it and remove if necessary.

I looked up the actual rulings regarding attorney fees in the past and did so once again to help answer your question. Attorney is allowed something called a two-tiered fee which has different fee for services rendered at various levels.

More general information regarding fees can be found in the SSA regulations. I am posting or attempting to post a link that may be of help to you.

Link did not work - Sorry

This may or may not work. Not good at posting a link.

Below is a direct quote copy and paste from SSA-1560-U4
TOE 850
OMB No. 0960-0104
http//policy.ssa

I am hoping that the above quote is OK and not copyright infringement since I stated the exact place of origin and did not make any alterations. Direct copy and paste.

To the moderators, please remove and fix for me if I have done anything improper here.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm sorry I'm not able to ascertain if you are just starting the initial application? If this is the first application you are filing, it really is best to to it without a lawyer.

...actually many reputable lawyers won't take on the case unless you are past the initial application stage. I was approved in about 6 months, no lawyer, no appeals.

It could save you a lot of money.

I'm sorry if i missed something that mentioned this.

I think that's worth saying in every thread when someone is considering a lawyer.

Spending $6000 isn't chump change for most of us.

I think it's a personal decision for each person applying. With what I know now and what I can accomplish now; I'd love to have that $6000 back. The thing is that I believe NOW I could review my medical documentation, see what was lacking, and discuss my concerns with my docs, but back when I started my application, that wasn't the case. My severe pain at that time, with minimal tools to battle it, didn't leave me with the mental acuity to help with my own case. Now I have periods like that, but it's not constant. The mental and physical abilities of the applicant, or their support system, are a consideration in whether a person should attempt to accomplish this themselves or get legal assistance.......and the $$$

Hi Josie. Thanks for your input. I'm actually filing my first appeal.
From what I understand at this level, only a teeeeny % get approved.
I filed my initial app by myself and got my denial within 2 months. not sure if that was a good sign or not?!
That's wonderful that you got approved so fast!


Now ain't THAT the truth! I've had many breakdowns by trying to do too much on my own....and the pain. forget it. I can't handwrite for very long, so I type. Just the initial application forms took me a month of sundays to fill out. (or so it seemed)

Rae