What to expect at a
Social Security Disability Hearing
By Nicholas Wearne, Associate Attorney
Social Security Disability hearings can be intimidating so
this is a general idea of what to expect.
First off, I tell people to arrive about an hour early. You never know what traffic is going to be
like. Make sure you have researched the
address the night before and you know where the hearing office is located. I always meet with my clients in the half
hour before hearing just to review their case and go over things one last time.
When you arrive you will check in with security and if you
have an attorney you will wait for them.
About 5-10 minutes before the hearing begins a hearing monitor will come
check on you to make sure you are there and to make sure everything is ready
for the judge. They generally leave and
will come back once the judge is ready.
Expect your hearing to last about an hour. In the hearing room it will you, your
attorney if you have one, the judge, the hearing monitor, and usually there
will be a vocational expert. The judge
and your attorney will ask you a series of questions to get an idea of why you
think you are disabled, to get an idea of what you do during the day, and to
figure out what your past work was like.
The judge will them ask some hypothetical questions to the vocational
expert. Generally, you will not receive
a decision from the judge at that time but he will conclude the hearing and
send you his decision a month or so later in the mail. On occasion the judge will end the hearing by
letting you know what he or she is going to do.
If you have a hearing scheduled and you are nervous about
how things are going to play out, contact our office for a free consultation.
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