Illinois Social Security Disability Lawyer

How Not to Talk to the Judge

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Some quick tips to help you put your best case possible before the Judge.

It does not matter if it is a work injury, auto injury, or Social Security Disability case. You often must testify before the Judge or in a deposition.

The way the Judge perceives you will make or break your case.

Do not argue with the Judge or the other lawyer. It does not help you and gives the impression that you are a combative, unlikable person.

Do not curse in your testimony, or curse at another witness, the Judge, or the other lawyer. It makes you look crude and selfish.

Do not comment out loud on other witnesses’ testimony. You will have your opportunity to respond according to courtroom procedure. It is rude and counter productive to talk over a witness.

The Judge often wants to help people who are polite, likable, and believable. Do yourself a favor and help the Judge help you.

Questions about your injury or disability case? Feel free to contact Illinois injury and disability lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

 

Best Ways to Document Your Injury and Disability

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Documenting or proving your injury and restrictions is very important for Social Security Disability, Illinois Workers’ Compensation case, and personal injury case.

This will lead to a greater possibility of winning your case and increase the settlement value of your case.

Some top ways of accomplishing this are as follows:

Have the doctor complete an Illinois Secretary of State Disability certificate for your motor vehicle. This describes your disability and restrictions for parking purposes.

Have the doctor complete a prescription for any cane or walker you may require.

Have the doctor list your restrictions in writing. This will explain your limitations.

Ask for a functional capacity evaluation. This is a test that a physical therapist usually administers over one to two days and the purpose to address capability of walking, standing, lifting and use of the hands. Some insurance companies will not pay for this test.

Have a doctor complete a residual functional capacity form. The doctor will provide his opinion regarding your ability to walk, stand, sit, lift and use your hands. It does not require a test such as mentioned above.

Ask for Xrays, MRI’s, EMG’s, breathing tests, or heart tests based on the specific body parts that are bothering you.

Questions about what all this means for your injury or disability case? Feel free to contact Bloomington, Illinois Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Should You Apply for Social Security Disability?

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Social Security Disability involves a complicated application process.

There is also usually a long waiting period before you are accepted.

The odds of being approved are not great.

All this to say that you should make sure that you truly cannot work a job before you apply for disability.

Monthly disability payments may range from $400 to $2500 depending on your earnings history.

So Social Security does not pay you a tremendous amount of money, however if you cannot work it is a wonderful safety net.

The other advantage of Social Security Disability is that eventually you will be entitled to Medicare.

The SSDI program has the added feature of allowing you to work part-time with a monthly earnings limit that changes every year.

This allows you to earn some money in addition to your disability payment.

The whole process may take up to 2 to 3 years, therefore you should make sure that your health definitely prevents you from working.

Many people work until they absolutely cannot continue and then file.

Before you stop working you should ask your doctors for the proper testing to document your conditions such as xrays, MRIs, nerve testing, or breathing tests.

This will provide objective evidence of your condition and support your claim.

Questions about winning your disability claim? Feel free to contact Illinois Social Security Disability Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Social Security Disability and Headaches

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Severe headaches and migraines are devastating.

They disrupt everyday activities and if severe enough may cause you to lose your job.

If you are seeking Social Security Disability you must prove you are not able to work full time.

Proving your case starts with seeing a specialists such as a neurologist.

The neurologist must diagnose your headaches and note the severity and frequency of the headaches.

You should also keep a daily log that describes your headaches. Show this log to your doctor and keep a copy for your disability records.

It will be helpful for your doctor to provide an opinion regarding how much work you will miss in a month and how long you will be unable to perform most activities while suffering from the headaches.

MRIs will usually be part of your diagnostic treatment. They are typically used to rule out serious problems such as a brain tumor. Therefore, a clean MRI does not rule out migraines.

A case for disability can be won on the basis of migraines, but the neurologist must be willing to help you document and develop your case.

Questions about headaches and migraines and your disability case? Feel free to contact Illinois Social Security Disability Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Make Sure to Coordinate Your Work Comp Settlement and Social Security Claim

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Social Security law requires that your disability payments be offset or reduced to take into account any Workers’ Compensation settlement.

This makes it very important for your Workers’ Compensation lawyer to be aware of your filing for Social Security Disability benefits.

The best situation is to use the same lawyer for both the work injury claim and the Social Security Disability claim, however if that is not possible then make sure that your Workers’ Comp lawyer talks with your Social Security attorney.

Your work comp lawyer must make sure to put special spread language approved through SSA to reduce any offset as much as allowed pursuant to SSA rules.

I have seen several Work Comp settlements that have not used this special language and the disabled workers suffers greatly as a result.

These injured workers have had their Social Security disability benefits cut off for several years.

The result is that it would have better for the injured worker to never have taken any money for the Work Comp settlement.

Make sure that you do not sign any work comp settlement contracts without having them reviewed carefully by and experienced Social Security Disability attorney.

Do you have a work comp injury and are you disabled? Feel free to contact me, Dirk May, an experienced Social Security Disability and Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney at 309-827-4371.