Start to decision
How a claim moves, from my side of the desk
Every claim is different, and these are the stages most of them pass through.
- 01
Step 1: One conversation, about twenty minutes
You tell me what happened and show me any letter you have. I tell you honestly whether I take the claim and what I’d do first.
- 02
Step 2: I request your file
Social Security keeps a file on every claim, and so does the VA. I ask for both so we know what they have, not what we hope they have.
- 03
Step 3: Records, then a letter from your doctor
I collect treatment notes and ask your treating provider to answer specific questions on the form the agency reads.
- 04
Step 4: A written argument
I write it so a stranger can follow it in a few minutes: the rule, the records, the page numbers.
- 05
Step 5: The hearing, or the decision
At a Social Security hearing I sit beside you and question the experts. A VA decision arrives by mail, and I read it with you the day it does.
- 06
Step 6: After a decision
Back pay, a review, the next level of appeal: I explain which letter you’ll get next and what it will ask.
The fee
How I’m paid, and what isn’t included
For Social Security claims the fee is set by federal rule and paid out of back pay, so if no back pay is awarded, there is no fee. For VA claims a lawyer may charge only after the VA has made its first decision on the claim.
Costs are different from the fee. Records, medical reports and copies can carry charges of their own, and I may ask you to cover them. You may owe costs even if a claim is denied. I’ll tell you what they are likely to be before I spend any of your money.
Nothing here is a promise about a result, a date or an amount. Each case is decided on its own file.
Ready for the first conversation?
Call, or send a few lines, and tell me which agency wrote to you.