What Happens at a Social Security Disability Hearing?
Your Social Security Disability (SSD) hearing is your chance to make the case for why you need disability benefits directly to someone at Social Security: an administrative law judge (ALJ).
It’s a small meeting in a hearing room or it’s remote by phone or online video. The judge will ask you questions. You’ll explain how health problems hinder your everyday life and ability to work.
You go to a hearing after your initial application for disability benefits was denied, and your first attempt to appeal the denial was also rejected. This is normal. Most people get denied when they first apply.
Before you reach your hearing, you’ll ask the Social Security Administration (SSA) for a reconsideration.
At that step, a new examiner evaluates your claim and potentially awards you benefits. But the chances of getting approved during reconsideration are still low.
It’s during the next stage of appealing—your SSD hearing—that your chances are significantly higher.
Only about 35 percent of initial disability applications are approved in Arizona, but around half who go to hearings get approved.
You need to know what to expect from this process and how best to prepare yourself.
The Phoenix disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson are ready to help you make the most out of your disability hearing and fight for the benefits you deserve.
We’re not a big, national firm that’s just going to fly someone in on the day of your hearing. With Slepian Ellexson, you’ll get ongoing, individual support from a disability lawyer.
And if you’re worried about the cost of a lawyer, you should know that you don’t pay an attorney’s fee until you win benefits.
Act fast, because after any denial from Social Security Disability, you have 60 days to file your next appeal.
How Can I Prepare for My Disability Hearing?
First, you should know what you can expect to see on the day of your disability hearing and how it’s likely to progress.
You don’t need to go into a big courtroom with a judge, jury, and gallery full of onlookers. Disability hearings take place in small rooms or over video or the phone.
People you might see there include:
- The administrative law judge
- Your attorney
- A court assistant
- A vocational expert who can testify about how medical limitations affect someone’s ability to work
- A medical expert who can give their opinion on limitations based on your evidence
The judge will ask about your health problems. Your lawyer can question the expert witnesses. You’ll get a chance to tell your story.
Before you go into your Social Security Disability hearing, it’s important to understand why your first application for Social Security Disability benefits failed and what you can do to make your claim stronger.
Some items that help boost your case include:
- Extensive medical records
- Medical opinions from your doctors about what you can and cannot do
- Details about treatment plans and how your health conditions have responded to them
- Statements from friends, family members, and coworkers who have seen your health struggles firsthand
- Any new evidence of work disruptions and inability to perform job duties
The more you prepare for your disability hearing, the calmer you’ll be and the better your chance at a successful result.
The Slepian Ellexson Arizona disability lawyers have been through this process thousands of times. If you have any questions about this stage of your disability benefits appeal, contact us right away.
Questions to Expect at Your Social Security Disability Hearing
The judge at your SSD hearing is probably going to ask you a lot of questions. You’ll be asked about your health problems, your work history and your personal life.
This can be intimidating, but understanding what to expect from the judge can make your hearing less stressful.
You may get questions like:
- What do your daily activities look like?
- What symptoms do you experience?
- Are you sticking to a treatment plan and prescribed medications?
- Are there any side effects to your treatment?
- Will your symptoms improve soon?
- When were you last employed?
- What were your responsibilities at your previous jobs?
- Why can’t you work? What happened when you tried to work?
- How long can you sit, stand, or move around before needing a break?
- Would you be able to do less physical work?
- Do your symptoms make it more difficult to get along with or interact with coworkers, supervisors, clients or customers?
- Do you have difficulties concentrating or remembering things?
- How does your disability impact your ability to take care of yourself?
The answers to these questions give the judge the information that they need to decide whether you should qualify for disability benefits.
You need to show that your symptoms affect your ability to work and that they will continue to affect you for a long time, a year or more.
You don’t want to exaggerate your health issues, but you also can’t downplay them. This can be a tough balance to strike.
Our Arizona disability lawyers can guide you on what kinds of questions to expect and how to effectively make your case to the disability judge.
In fact, the government’s own have shown that applicants with representation at their disability hearing are nearly three times more likely to be approved.
Don’t go into your hearing alone. Get an experienced disability lawyer by your side.
How Does a Phoenix Disability Lawyer Help at SSD Hearings?
Our disability attorneys are here to prepare you for every part of your disability hearing and walk you through the event itself.
We will:
- Help you strengthen your claim with updated medical records
- Keep you aware of important deadlines for your appeal
- File new information and arguments with the judge before your hearing
- Help you practice clear and honest answers for questions the judge may ask
- Handle the procedural parts of your hearing day
- Cross-examine vocational and medical experts who may testify about your situation
- Support the next steps of your appeal if your disability hearing isn’t successful
Every disability claim is different, and every SSD hearing is different, but our disability lawyers will always take time to give your case the personal attention and unique approach it deserves.
Slepian Ellexson has helped thousands of people in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, and across Arizona get disability benefits that help return to stability.
Do you need to seek a hearing with a disability judge?
