Preparing for and Handling Social Security Adult Disability Hearings

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Preparing an adult Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income claim for hearing before an administrative law judge can be daunting for a new advocate. A road map for this critical stage in a claimant's case shows the five-step legal definition of disability and the "grids" describes evidence development including medical source statements, discusses preparing a client to testify and submission of a prehearing statement, offers guidance on conducting the hearing, including the difficult task of cross-examining medical and vocational experts, and cites some posthearing options to complete the advocacy.

By Thomas Yates From May - June 2004