Social Security in the United States is tasked with providing financial assistance to those who suffer from a physical or mental disability. Getting benefits is far from being a given, statistics show that over three quarters of the initial applications are denied. Although most people are not approved at this stage, many are once they have attended a hearing and had an opportunity to lay out the facts to an Administrative Law Judge. There are no rules that state you have to be represented in the hearing by Social Security lawyers in Missouri but as the laws, rules and regulations are quite complex having a lawyer will certainly improve your chances of winning your case on appeal.
The hearing is actually the second step in the appeals process, the first step is simply requesting that the original application be reviewed and reconsidered; rarely does the administration reverse their decision at this point. The appeal is elevated to the hearing stage which is held in the presence of an Administrative Law Judge. The most important commodity at this hearing is medical evidence; the judge makes use of your medical records to support your testimony and to help him or her formulate questions.
If your medical file is incomplete or appears to have unsupported gaps in your treatment this will usually be cause for continued denial of benefits. Your Social Security lawyers in Missouri will step in and gather any and all supporting evidence. Because your lawyers knows what is required they will be in a better position to gather this data than you will be, even though you can attempt to get these records independently. As the entire process of getting disability benefits does take several months your lawyers also know when your medical records should be updated.
Your lawyers will get in direct contact with your doctors as a written opinion from the physicians that are treating you is extremely important.
Even though the hearing is rather informal in nature, it is understandable that many people will be nervous. Often a person who is nervous will make errors and your lawyers know this. Your lawyer will have been involved in many hearing with many clients, he or she knows what to expect. Your lawyer will tutor you in preparation for the hearing; you can expect the lawyers to conduct a mock hearing where they will ask questions that you can expect to be asked by the ALJ, as a result you will be in a far better position to reply and less likely to say something that will hurt your cause.
If your initial application for disability benefits is denied you are advised to hire Social Security lawyers in Missouri for the appeals. You can contact grundydisabilitygroup.com for appeal.