When you get the notice for your hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will generally tell you if vocational expert (VE) will be testifying.

You will be asked to fill out forms asking about your recent medical treatment, a medication list, and a work history form. Complete those forms accurately and send back immediately.

The ALJ will also ask you to acknowledge you will be at the hearing. Do that ASAP.

The notice that a VE will be present  means potential problems at Hurdle 4, Can You Return to Your Past Relevant Work and Hurdle 5, Other Work in the National Economy.

If you get a notice that a VE will be present, retain an attorney to represent you immediately. You will need an experienced Social Security attorney to cross-examine the VE. The VE must be given the proper questions about your past work history, your current restrictions, your exertional and non-exertional problems like side effects of medication and the impact of pain. You can’t count on the ALJ giving the VE the right question to win your case. The ALJ might ask the VE questions that can be used to deny your claim.

Sharon Barrett and Nancy Cavey know the importance of asking the right questions of the VE at your Social Security Hearing.

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Your initial application for Social Security Disability benefits will be reviewed by disability examiner. In each of the 50 states there is a State Agency which is generally known as Disability Determination Services. This agency is responsible for handling your initial application and your Request for  Reconsideration.

Your file is assigned to a disability examiner who obtains your medical records from the medical providers you listed on your application. Once your records are received, the disability examiner will review your file and your medical records. The disability examiner will be looking for medical records that establish your physical abilities.

Since most treating doctors have not been trained to write medical reports outlining a patient’s physical abilities, it is not uncommon for the disability examiner to consult with a staff doctor in the disability unit. The staff doctor will look at your medical records and, using their medical crystal ball, determine what you are physically capable of doing-it is called “determining your residual functional capacity”. This is Social Security language for how much can you lift, how long can you stand or sit, whether you can bend at the waist etc.

Why is that important? As explained in the postings about the 5 hurdles, once your limitations are determined, the disability examiner is going to ask whether or not you can go back to the lightest job you did for the 15 years before you became disabled. If you cannot do your “past relevant work”, disability examiner will ask, at Hurdle 5, whether you perform some other work in the mythical national economy.

If the disability examiner says you can’t perform some other type of work, you win.

However, 80% of the time, the disability examiner says you can do some other type of work and denies your claim.

And, when you file your Request for Reconsideration, your claim goes back to the same State Agency that denied you in the first place. While your case goes to another claims examiner, most cases are denied again.

If is only after you get denied twice (almost always), that you can file for a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge… who is NOT bound by the earlier denials and who is NOT employed by the State Disability Agency.

You can improve your chances of approval by properly filing out the forms that are sent to you by explaining the limitations in your functioning from the time you get up till the time you go to bed. Paint a picture that the disability examiner and staff physician can see in their mind’s eye. Filling out these forms is difficult and you would benefit from consulting skilled attorneys Cavey & Barret.

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Once you have proven you can’t do your past relevant work (PRW), you move to the last and highest hurdle, Hurdle 5: Other Work.

This is a complicated hurdle. You must prove that you are unable to do other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy taking into consideration your level of physical functioning, age, education, and work experience. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a tool called the Medical Vocational Guidelines which is also known as the Grids.

The Grids are biased toward older individuals, those with less than a high school education, or non-English speakers. In less than 5 seconds, we can look at the Grids and tell you if you would meet Hurdle 5. If your profile matches the Grids, the court must follow the Grid. That could mean you are not disabled based on a rote application of an impersonal process.

However, if your profile differs from the profile in the Grid, the Grid is not binding. It is only a “framework” for the disability decision. If your exertional level falls between sedentary, light, or medium, you don’t meet the framework. If you can’t do the full range of sedentary work, you don’t meet the framework. If you have mental, sensory or skin impairments, postural or manipulative limitations, or environmental limitations, you don’t meet the framework.

A key to winning your case is to develop the necessary evidence to show you don’t meet the Grid framework. This will require the assistance of your doctor and testimony from you about your limitations. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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Most applicants will meet the Hurdle 1, Substantial Gainful Activity, and Hurdle 2, Severe Impairment. Since most do not meet Hurdle 3, Listing of Impairments, the usual case moves to Hurdle 4, Past Relevant Work (PRW).

You must prove that you can’t do the lightest job you have done in the last 15 years. What was the easiest job you did? Can you still do that job? If so, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will find that you are not disabled. If you can do the job as it is ordinarily done, you are not disabled.

When you fill out forms as a part of your application, make sure you explain why you can’t do the lightest job you held in the last 15 years by explaining how your disability limits your ability to do that job. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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