You are missing the point entirely, however I will detail things a bit so you may secure a more positive grasp of the case.

Its not easy to look back, it took much investigation on my part when in fatc it would have been easy to just give up.

1. Attorney number one, failed to obtain all documents she had signed a binding legal contract to secure! This attorney(04-06)returned not a single phone call in 13 months! She was fired for cause and replaced with....

2. Attorney number two, hired to replace attorney number one after it became clear that number one had negligently handled the securing of documents. Unfortunately this party was far worse, this attorney did exactly the same thing as attorney number one, except this attorney openly lied to me regarding these documents on a half dozen occasions, including in is office one month prior to the second hearing where after much prompting he insisted that he had obtained the files that were missing from the first hearing(12 years of medical files from my primary)and then again on the day of the hearing! This was not discovered until late 09, after he had punted me off to a firm in Chicago! More on this creep in a moment...

3. Attorney number three, never met, never spoke with, yet this attorney presented a brief to the US district court, case was heard in summer of 13(4-years after previous denial)and he prevailed against SSA. Case was remanded on a ridiculous technicality, the ALJ got a job description wrong in his lengthy denial, virtually meaningless in the scheme of things, yet this was my first pay dirt against the SSA! Attorney number three was paid in full via EAJA at the prevailing wage for such legal representation! This attorney then punted me off to a junior attorney at the very bottom of the firms structure.

4. Attorney number four, failed to notify SSA that he was counsel of record, failed to secure missing medical file(those pesky 12-years again), failed to notify me that he had successfully delayed my remand hearing(this is why he was to be fired, attorney & his aide refused to acknowledge that they had introduced the delay, I had to contact ODAR directly(the judges office)and that immediately prompted a phone call from the attorney suddenly full of excuses and apology! At this point it was ascertained that he had also failed to obtain those missing 12 years. I finally contacted Allina and had these records sent directly to myself!

At this point I am actively shopping the case for new representation, all turned it down, one even insisting that I had zero chance of success, he like all of the others, declined to consider the now present 12 years of medical files written by my longtime treating primary, these were in fact three huge files about as thick as the Mlps phone book! It was plainly obvious that for a payoff of just $6,000 there was only so much these vaunted representatives of the poor were willing to do!

So, I am stuck with attorney number four, who three days out from the remand hearing contacts me(Friday afternoon before Monday morning hearing)and inquires about the mild nature of my disability to my neck(he had read over an insurance IME from the disc file, IME's are notoriously biased towards the party that pays their fee)prompting me to immediately send him detailed data via faxes from real doctors(all contained within those pesky 12 years of files)detailing the severe stenosis in my thoracic spine resulting in a laundry list of pain and disabling conditions. So, attorney number four has no idea what my disabling condition even is, even though he has the entire 12 years of files in his possession. Fortunately for me, the presiding ALJ now also has those missing 12 years of files, as does his ME.

We go to the remand hearing, where I ask the attorney if he thinks at the least that we have an argument, he refuses to say even that!!!!I fully expect to lose. We enter the hearing, introductions are made(the last we will hear from attorney number four)and the ALJ has an enormous file before him, as does his ME, who he begins to question in some depth. After ten minutes of back and forth he asks the ME about an RFC, he responds that it would have to be considered less then sedentary, the ALJ thanks him and then turns to the VE and asks him based upon that RFC how many jobs exist in the national economy, the answer is of course none!

Judge then thanks him and states that he is going to make a bench decision(at this moment I know that I have finally prevailed and have won my claim in full)where he declares that he is entering a finding of disabled, and issuing a fully favorable decision! BTW, this ALJ is the same exact ALJ who called me a liar in hearing number one way back in 05! Suddenly attorney number four is all hugs and kisses, and he can't say enough about all he had done to secure me that unlooked for victory. Then he explains the fee petition will be introduced in which he will collect far far more than the $6,000 cap, well we'll just see about that is my response to this parasite, who hadn't done a single thing other than introduce himself to the ALJ.....

A few other things, I have secured an attorney to sue number two for malpractice, and he is going to be going down. I already have established three indisputable facts(they were necessary for the malpractice attorney to accept the case), 1. that he breached his legal obligation to secure all documents necessary to present my case, I hold zero responsibility in this, it was his sworn duty to obtain those files! 2. That the missing records were so crucial that they resulted in a bench decision in under half of an hours time, issued by the very judge who had denied my original claim! 3. That in so doing, he cause me great financial, emotional, and physical calamity!

Don't ever tell me about attorneys, I know that they are for the most part, parasites on the SSDI system, and aside from the miraculous nature of the federal court action, completely unnecessary.

Exactly! Whats more, we are disabled, and we are vulnerable, they rule that we are, then turn about and spring these so-called iron clad legal manipulations on us and as the above poster is attempting to do, say, "you should have known, or you should not have signed it!"

BS I say, but thats not the only issue here, its just the most recent one.

What harm did the SSA cause you ?

Figuratively speaking....In reality all SSA negatives were the direct result of attorney negligence/incompetence.

Sky,

If you want to bring one important fact to someone's attention it's best just to state that point rather than mire your point with tons of other info that is not your point.

It certainly sounds like you've been through a long struggle to get SSDI. That must have been incredibly frustrating. To then discover that an attorney may have taken advantage of you or the situation would infuriate many people. I get that.

Please remember that your experience is not everyone's. Using an attorney or not, during the SSDI approval process is an individual decision that each of us must make. There are names (and they are not generally thought to be complimentary) for those who generalize about all or most of certain groups of people. Attorneys are people too .

My attorney was excellent and very easy to deal with. On our first visit, he asked me who my treating physicians were and what their contact info was. Before our next meeting, he called me to say that he was resending a request for info to the one of my docs who still hadn't sent my records and encouraged me to call that doc to "gently remind" him that he was holding up my case. On our second meeting, my lawyer confirmed that we had all of my pertinent medical records then we reviewed the findings that "helped" or might hinder my SSDI application. Like you, my case started with WC, so the SSA got that paperwork too.....the IME docs who made it sound like everything was fine. I would have found it very strange if my attorney had not discussed the medical documentation, as that is what should prove disability. If some of my records were not in my attorney's possession he would have told me, as he did when one of my docs didn't not mail it in after his first request OR it would have become evident when we discussed my medical documentation.

That would be figuratively speaking regarding the earlier attorney issues "hurting" your case.


That would not be figuratively speaking about the SSA doing you harm. So why diss the SSA ?

Stop trying to be cute, you are not going to be treated to the entire history lesson behind my claim, and definitely stop with taking yourself so seriously, if you had legit questions I might try and answer them, but this crap is just childish and knee-jerkrolleyes:

POST #15 Has been edited following this response.

skyking you were the one who made the statement that SSA caused you harm. Finz merely asked you what harm SSA caused you since you put it out there. thats what the board is partly about......learning. if you make a statement that isnt clear, someone may well ask you what you mean. they do that to learn. if you dont want to get into it then dont put it out there. your remarks in your last post to finz were totally uncalled for.

His post was modified after it was first pasted, he must have administrative access or some such. My reply was perfectly appropriate and germane to his apparent point.

Now, so you understand, and perhaps he does too, the reference to SSA having harmed me, was literally a figurative statement, all harm in fact coming from the negligence of the attorneys! I waited ten years for approval, it took me until late 09 to realize just how damaging that attorney negligence had in fact been. Before that realization had been arrived at, I simply accepted at face value that SSA was responsible for most of my situation.

The truth being that in "fact" my attorneys caused me far greater harm then SSA ever did! Get it now? Its a trivial reference that the lawyer fan club herebouts seems to be eccentrically focused upon, when in fact it was just a harmless bit of wordplay, aside from its intended purpose of illustrating the damage done me by my own representation, it is absolutely meaningless, just a harmless reference.

I am going to have to intervene here to remind you of our guidelines about posting respectfully to other members. Even when disagreeing, that should still be done in a way that does not flame others.

Also, when anyone "modifies" ie edits their post here, it leaves an edit line in italics at the bottom. I see no such edit line on the post you referenced. Even when moderators edit, there is an edit line left, and the member you refer to is not on the administrative or moderation team.
So your assertion that is not accurate.

Again, please post within the guidelines or the thread will be closed.