WHO TESTIFIES AT A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY HEARING?

When Social Security denies your application for disability benefits, the claimant must appeal with the 60 day deadline.  The appeal will take you before a federal Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for a hearing.  The ALJ must listen to your testimony, look at all evidence, and decide if the claimant meets all of the federal regulations for a disability benefit.

The hearing is the absolute best chance the claimant will ever have to be approved.  This hearing is so important, you can't take a chance on failure.  Fail here and there are no more good opportunities to win the case and get paid!

So, who testifies at a disability hearing?  First, the claimant will answer a barrage of questions from the judge.  You will be asked about your medical conditions, what kind of activities you can and can't do, what your physical and mental limitations are; what your past jobs were like, your education and your daily activities.

The government will always call in a vocational expert (job expert) to provide testimony.  The testimony provided by this expert can totally kill your case and get you denied if you (the claimant) don't handle it correctly.  Since you are not familiar with all of the technical rules and regulations, you will want your attorney/advocate present to protect you.

Sometimes, Social Security will also call in a doctor (medical expert) to provide testimony.  I recently attended a hearing where a retired medical doctor testified.  The doctor stated that my client could perform any job at the light exertion level.  That opened up thousands of jobs that Social Security believed the claimant could still perform and would have denied the claim if the testimony had been allowed to stand unchallenged.  My job was to challenge the doctor's testimony, which I did.

Ultimately, the judge's decision will be based on what is in the claimant's medical record.  Your attorney's job is to know the medical record and use it to PROVE your case and get you paid.  

Keep in mind that the federal regulations will be used by the judge and it is the rules and regulations that must be satisfied.  For a claimant who doesn't understand the rules and regulations, this is an impossible chore.  So, take somebody with you to the hearing who knows the regulations and how to use them.

The judge is an expert on the regulations.  The vocational witness is an expert.  The medical doctor is an expert.  Do you want to be the only person in the hearing who is not an expert?

I'm afraid many claimants believe that all they have to do is walk into a hearing and tell the judge their story and everything will be OK.  This is not the case.  The judge cannot and will not pay your claim unless you PROVE that you meet all of the federal regulations for a benefit.  The law will prevail.  For that to happen, all of the expert testimony must be dealt with.

The burden of proof is on the claimant, not on the government.  In other words, the government doesn't have to prove that you are not disabled.  You must prove with admissible, objective evidence that you are disabled.

Fail to prove your case and you walk out denied, without benefits.

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The Forsythe Firm 

Social Security Disability Advocates

"Disability Is All We Do"
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
(256) 799-0297

 

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