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A vocational expert may provide testimony that can adversely affect your case. Your Ocala Social Security disability income attorney can explain the possible testimony a vocational expert can provide and whether there is anything that your Ocala Social Security disability law firm can do to help your case recover after damaging testimony. Potential Testimony Your Ocala Social Security disability income attorney can explain that there are four potential possibilities regarding vocational expert testimony. First, the vocational expert can testify that you can perform past relevant work. Second, he or she can testify that the administrative law judge's hypothetical question does not properly include all of your limitations. Third, the vocational expert may say that he or she does not understand the limitations that…Read More

If your obesity has contributed to your disability, your Ocala Social Security disability benefits lawyer can explain how this can impact your case. Body Mass Index Body mass index is used to evaluate obesity levels. This measurement is weight divided by height, multiplied by 704.5. Your Ocala Social Security disability benefits lawyer can explain that your waist size is also taken into account, with a larger size permitted for men. Prescribed Treatment While obesity can impact your disability, your Ocala Social Security disability benefits lawyer can explain that if you fail to follow the treatment prescribed by your health care provider, you may be denied Social Security disability benefits. One relevant ruling states that benefits will not usually be denied due to…Read More

An Ocala Social Security disability lawyer may discuss the medical-vocational guidelines and how they can affect your case. Having a better understanding of this process can help you with your case. Need for Guidelines These guidelines are set up to establish two things. First, an Ocala Social Security disability lawyer can explain that this process helps to determine whether there are jobs that exist in significant numbers for particular mixes of age, work experience, educational level and residual functional capacity. Additionally, an Ocala Social Security disability attorney can explain that the guidelines also help to establish the parameters that assess how age, work experience and educational level impact the case. Role of the Vocational Expert An Ocala Social Security disability…Read More

Chronic pain is a frequent claim made by Social Security disability claimants as any Ocala Social Security disability claim attorney knows. After all, most conditions that are so crippling they would prevent someone from working would also be expected to be significantly painful. However, basing a claim on claims of pain can be difficult because there is no scientifically objective measurement for pain. How to Prove Your Pain If you and your Ocala Social Security disability lawyer are able to establish that you have a medically-determinable impairment that causes you pain, the Social Security Administration will evaluate the intensity and persistence of your pain. The goal of asking this is to determine whether you would still be able to do…Read More

To avoid losing your Social Security disability benefits, you should be careful when engaging in self-employed work activities. If your work situation is going to change, you should retain an Ocala Social Security disability benefits lawyer before proceeding. In the meantime, educate yourself about the potential pitfalls to avoid problems. Substantial Gainful Activity Business owners and other self-employed people who receive Social Security disability benefits often assume that they only need to worry about engaging in substantial gainful activity if they are making a profit. That's not necessarily the case. However, you're highly unlikely to lose your benefits based on these activities alone. Still, if you're working 80 or more hours per month, even if you're losing money, the Social…Read More

The judge may ask a vocational expert, or VE, to appear at your disability hearing. Your Ocala Social Security disability attorney will have the opportunity to cross examine the VE regarding the statements made during his testimony. The Role of a Vocational Expert Vocational experts are typically employed in positions in which they encourage employers to hire individuals despite their impairments. Thus, their role as a VE may be at odds with what they do on a day-to-day basis. Despite this fundamental difference, VEs are asked only to provide information about work that exists in the national economy. A VE’s opinion about accommodations that would have to be made for a claimant to work at a particular opinion are irrelevant.…Read More

Disability claims involving mental disabilities open up a set of questions that do not necessarily apply to claims about physical impairments. When your Social Security disability law office in Ocala is preparing you to testify at your disability hearing, you should consider your symptoms and how you will answer questions about them. The purpose of the hearing is for the judge to get a good evaluation of whether you qualify for disability benefits. Ask your Ocala Social Security disability attorney for guidance as to how you should discuss your mental disability. Dealing With Stress Many disability claimants name stress as something that makes it difficult for them to hold down any work. The judge might ask you questions about how…Read More

In this blog, an attorney with your Social Security disability law firm in Ocala discusses how the SSA might determine how substance abuse affects your eligibility for disability benefits assuming that the abuse ceases. If You Stop The questions facing you and your Ocala Social Security disability lawyer center on whether or not you would still be impaired if you ceased your dependence on alcohol or drugs and the degree to which your use of those substances contributes to your impairment. If the removal of the drugs or alcohol from your system remedies your condition, it is unlikely that you will be declared disabled. If not, then the Social Security Administration must base its decision on the impairments that you…Read More

State agencies and the ALJs who preside over hearings do not evaluate claims the same way. An attorney with your Social Security disability law office in Ocala describes the differences below. How State Agency Determinations Are Made When you and your Ocala Social Security disability attorney compare the ALJ’s view of a case to that of a state agency, one difference that stands out is the use of the Listing of Impairments, a compilation of medical conditions and related data. The Listing establishes the parameters for whether or not an impairment is severe enough to prevent the patient from working. State agencies refer strongly to it when they review files particularly for under-50 claimants. That file is their primary source…Read More

In this article, an Ocala Social Security disability claims attorney discusses the profound impact that testimony from a vocational expert can have on your disability case. Role of the Vocational Expert The vocational expert can play a prominent part in your disability case, and this may or may not be to your advantage. You and your Ocala Social Security disability lawyer are up against someone whose statements can cost you your case. Administrative law judges turn to the vocational expert to explain what you have done in the past, how you performed your work and how the job is done elsewhere in the job market. Whether or not you did it that way and even if you cannot perform the…Read More