If you or a loved one is having trouble working, you may be wondering if you should hire a disability advocate or a disability attorney and when. The difference is knowledge, training, and experience. Attorneys need to have a bachelor’s, have gone to law school, and have passed the BAR while advocates only need to pass a yearly exam. Despite this, by law, both of them are paid the exact same. To hear the full message, watch this short video.
There are many services that offer assistance to those with disabilities and illnesses to help them obtain SSD benefits. Here are the most important reasons why you should hire a SSD Attorneys over an advocate or representative.
1. You pay both exactly the same amount.
There are no additional fees to use a licensed attorney vs. an advocate or representative.
2. An attorney has a fiduciary duty to keep the clients information confidential.
A lawyer cannot give information to anybody without the clients’ permission. If you use a company, a representative or an advocate that is referred to you by your Long Term Disability carrier and one of these parties finds out something that could be detrimental to you receiving long term disability they may disclose this information to the Long Term Disability company. This could eventually lead to you getting your long term disability cut off.
3. The Attorney cannot act with a conflict of interest.
If you are receiving Long Term Disability benefits and your policy requires you to win your Social Security Disability(SSD) case, the company, representative or advocate could intentionally lose your SSD case. In this circumstance you would lose both your Long Term Disability and your Social Security Disability.
The company representative or advocate might still get paid by the Long Term Disability Company. Think how much money the long term disability company would save if your long term disability was cut off because you lost your Social Security Disability Case.
4. The majority of cases are won in court.
Attorneys are trained in court procedures and examining witnesses. Most cases require the cross examining of witnesses such as medical experts and vocational experts. Cross examining the government’s witnesses is not something one can pick up from going to court. The ability to cross examine a witness requires training in the rules of evidence framing questions and laying foundations. Attorneys are the professionals who receive this type of training.
5. An Advocate or Representative is not required to do any training at all.
An attorney has a four year college degree and three years of law school and must pay a bar exam.
If you are applying for Social Security Disability benefits for the first time, or you have been denied, consider the Law office of Neil H. Good for your SSD case needs. Call #(847) 577-4476 or contact us online for a free case evaluation.
