Nationwide Social Security Disability Lawyers
Michigan-Based Disability Attorneys Representing Clients in All 50 States
If a serious illness, injury, or medical condition prevents you from working, Social Security Disability benefits can replace part of the income you have lost. Getting approved is another matter. Most initial applications are denied, often for reasons that have nothing to do with how sick or injured the applicant actually is: thin medical records, gaps in treatment, unclear work history, a missed deadline, or a file that never explained what the claimant can and cannot do in a workday.
At Nationwide Disability Law, our Social Security Disability lawyers represent claimants throughout the United States in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) matters, from initial applications through denials, appeals, administrative law judge hearings, continuing disability reviews, and benefit termination proceedings.
Whether you are applying for the first time or have already been turned down, you do not have to navigate this process alone.
Where Are You in the Social Security Disability Process?
Every claim arrives at a different stage. What matters most depends on where yours stands right now.
I Have Not Applied Yet
The application is where most claims are won or lost. The forms ask what conditions you have; the SSA decides based on what you can still do. We help identify the medical and vocational evidence that answers the second question before the file is ever submitted.
Learn More About Social Security Disability Claims
My Claim Was Denied
A denial does not mean you are not disabled. You have 60 days from the date you receive the notice to appeal, and the SSA presumes you received it five days after the date printed on it. Miss that window and you may have to start over with a new application, losing months of potential back pay. We review why the claim was denied, find what the record is missing, and build the next stage around it.
Get Help Appealing a Social Security Disability Denial
I Have a Hearing Scheduled
The hearing before an administrative law judge is the stage where represented claimants fare best, and it is the first time a human being hears your case in your own words. Preparation covers your testimony about symptoms and limitations, your past work as you actually performed it, and the vocational expert’s testimony about whether other jobs exist that someone with your restrictions could hold.
Learn More About Social Security Disability Hearings
SSA Is Reviewing or Ending My Benefits
Approval is not permanent. The SSA periodically reevaluates existing cases and can find that your disability has ceased. If you appeal a cessation decision within 10 days of the notice, you can generally ask to keep receiving payments while the appeal is pending. We represent clients in continuing disability reviews and benefit termination and cessation proceedings.
SSDI, SSI, and Overpayments
The SSA runs two separate disability programs with different eligibility rules, and some claimants qualify under both.
SSDI is an earned insurance benefit for workers who paid into the system long enough to be insured. Your monthly amount is calculated from your lifetime earnings record, not from how severe your condition is. Benefits begin after a five-month waiting period measured from your established onset date, and SSDI can be paid retroactively for up to 12 months before your application date. After 24 months of entitlement, you also become eligible for Medicare.
Supplemental Security Income is need-based rather than work-based, for people with limited income and resources who are aged, blind, or disabled. It has no waiting period and no pre-application retroactivity, but it does impose income and asset limits that SSDI does not.
Qualifying for both at once is common, particularly for workers with modest earnings records, and it requires coordinating two sets of rules in a single file. We handle concurrent SSDI and SSI claims as well as Social Security overpayment demands, which arrive years after approval and can be appealed or waived.
Why Choose Nationwide Disability Law?
Disability cases are personal. Your housing, your medical care, and your family’s stability may all turn on the outcome.
Our lead attorney, Christopher Pozios, has extensive experience in Social Security Disability law and personally attends disability hearings. We invest real time in each case: reviewing treatment records, working directly with medical providers, and making sure the file reflects the client’s actual functional limitations rather than a list of diagnoses. We also prioritize clear communication and same-day responses, so you know where your claim stands even when nothing has changed.
- Nationwide SSDI and SSI representation
- Personal attorney involvement at every stage
- Assistance developing medical and vocational evidence
- Representation at administrative law judge hearings
- Same-day responses to client questions
- Michigan-based attorneys serving clients nationwide
- Free consultations
- No attorney fee unless we obtain benefits for you
How the Social Security Administration Determines Disability
The SSA applies a five-step sequential evaluation. It asks whether you are working above the substantial gainful activity level, whether you have a severe medically determinable impairment, whether your condition meets or equals a listing in its Listing of Impairments, whether you can still perform your past relevant work, and finally whether you can adjust to other work in the national economy.
Most claims are decided at the last two steps, which turn on your residual functional capacity, or RFC. Your RFC is the most you can still do despite your limitations: how long you can sit, stand, and walk, how much you can lift and carry, how well you can concentrate and interact with others, whether you can use your hands consistently, and critically, whether you can sustain any of it for a full workday and workweek, week after week. A claimant who can do light work for two hours and then needs to lie down is not capable of light work.
Age, education, and transferable skills carry real weight here. Under the SSA’s medical-vocational guidelines, the standard for adjusting to other work tightens at age 50 and again at 55, so identical medical evidence can produce different outcomes for a 42-year-old and a 56-year-old.
To satisfy the duration requirement, your condition must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months, or be expected to result in death.
The Claim and Appeal Process
1. Initial Application
You describe your conditions, treatment, medications, work history, and limitations. The completeness of this record shapes everything that follows.
2. Initial Determination
A state disability determination services examiner, working with a medical consultant, issues the first decision. Most are denials.
3. Reconsideration
A different examiner reviews the file along with any new evidence. Approval rates at this stage are low, but it is a required step before a hearing in every state.
4. Administrative Law Judge Hearing
You testify, and a vocational expert usually testifies about jobs someone with your restrictions could perform. This is where representation matters most and where cross-examination of the vocational expert can change the outcome.
5. Appeals Council and Federal Court
An unfavorable hearing decision can be appealed to the Appeals Council, and from there to federal district court within 60 days of the Council’s denial.
What Does a Social Security Disability Lawyer Do?
Representation is not paperwork assistance. It is the work of translating a medical file into the specific vocational terms the SSA uses to decide claims.
- Analyze why a previous claim was denied
- Identify missing or incomplete medical evidence
- Obtain and review treatment records
- Develop function-specific evidence from treating providers
- Review your past work as actually performed, not just as titled
- Address residual functional capacity and transferable skills
- Prepare you to testify at your hearing
- Cross-examine vocational and medical experts
- Track appeal deadlines at every stage
Attorney fees in Social Security cases are contingent and regulated: typically 25 percent of past-due benefits, subject to a cap set by the SSA and approved by the agency. If you do not win benefits, you owe no fee.
Disability Claims by Medical Condition
The SSA does not award benefits for a diagnosis. It awards benefits for documented functional limitations. Two people with the same condition routinely receive opposite decisions depending on what their records show about what they can still do.
Musculoskeletal and Chronic Pain Conditions
These make up the largest share of disability claims nationally, including back injuries, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, spinal disorders, and fibromyalgia. Pain claims live or die on consistency between reported symptoms, treatment history, and objective findings.
Mental Health Conditions
Psychiatric claims are denied more often than most, because the limitations do not appear on a scan. What matters is documented difficulty with concentration, persistence, pace, social interaction, and adaptation, and above all with attendance and reliability. We handle claims involving depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
Neurological Conditions
Neurological impairments such as multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury often fluctuate, which cuts against claimants when records capture only good days. Documenting relapses, fatigue, and cognitive deficits over time is essential.
Chronic and Life-Threatening Illnesses
We also represent people with cancer, heart disease, COPD, and diabetes. Certain advanced conditions qualify for expedited processing under the SSA’s Compassionate Allowances program.
Other Disability Claims We Handle
Long-Term Disability Insurance
Many disabled workers hold private coverage alongside their Social Security claim. Group long-term disability plans are usually governed by ERISA, where the internal appeal is often the last chance to add evidence. Whatever is in that record when the appeal closes is generally all a federal court will ever see, which is why insurers benefit when claimants appeal alone. We handle long-term disability denials, ERISA administrative appeals, short-term disability denials, and individual disability insurance claims.
Veterans Disability Benefits
Veterans can pursue VA compensation and Social Security benefits simultaneously, but the systems use different standards. A 100 percent VA rating does not automatically establish disability under Social Security rules, though military service does qualify for expedited SSDI processing. We assist with veterans disability claims, denied VA claims, appeals of rating decisions, and Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU) claims.
Michigan Roots, Nationwide Representation
Social Security Disability is a federal program governed by the same statutes and regulations everywhere, which is why a Michigan firm can represent a claimant in Arizona without disadvantage. Hearings are routinely held by video and telephone, and claim development, records collection, and client meetings all happen remotely.
Our offices are in Michigan, where we serve claimants across the state, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Flint, Oakland County, Macomb County, and Wayne County.
Social Security Disability Lawyers Serving All 50 States
You do not need to live in Michigan to work with our firm. We maintain particularly deep coverage in two of the most difficult disability markets in the country. New York carries some of the longest hearing wait times in the nation, and Florida one of the highest initial denial rates, which makes early preparation and a well-developed record especially valuable in both.
- New York City Social Security Disability Lawyers, including Long Island and Buffalo
- Miami Social Security Disability Lawyers, including Tampa and Orlando
- California Social Security Disability Lawyers, including Los Angeles
- Texas Social Security Disability Lawyers, including Houston
- Illinois Social Security Disability Lawyers, including Chicago
We also represent claimants throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, and every other state. Use the location menu to find the page for your state, county, or city.
Frequently Asked Questions About Social Security Disability
Do I need a lawyer to apply for Social Security Disability?
No. You can file on your own, and some claimants are approved that way. Representation matters most when a claim has already been denied, when your condition is hard to document objectively, or when your work history or insured status is complicated. Because the fee is contingent and capped by regulation, most people consult an attorney early rather than after a denial.
How long do I have to appeal a denial?
Sixty days from the date you receive the notice. The SSA presumes you received it five days after the date printed on it, so the practical deadline is 65 days from the notice date. If you miss it, you generally must file a new application and may lose back pay.
How much will I receive in SSDI benefits?
Your SSDI payment is calculated from your lifetime covered earnings, not the severity of your condition. Two people with identical impairments can receive very different amounts. Your Social Security statement at ssa.gov shows your current estimate.
When do benefits start?
SSDI begins after a five-month waiting period measured from your established onset date, and can be paid retroactively for up to 12 months before your application. SSI has no waiting period, but it starts no earlier than the month after you apply.
Can I qualify with a partial disability?
No. Unlike VA compensation or workers’ compensation, Social Security has no percentage ratings. You either meet the definition of disability or you do not.
Are temporary conditions covered?
No. Your condition must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months, or be expected to result in death.
Can I work while applying or receiving benefits?
Some work is permitted, but earnings above the substantial gainful activity threshold will generally sink a pending claim. After approval, the trial work period lets you test working for nine months without losing benefits. SGA amounts are adjusted annually, so confirm the current figure before taking a job.
What is residual functional capacity?
Your RFC is the SSA’s assessment of the most you can still do despite your impairments, covering sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, handling, concentrating, and interacting with others. Most claims are decided on RFC rather than on whether a condition meets a listing.
Does my doctor’s opinion decide my case?
No. Under current rules the SSA does not automatically defer to a treating physician. It weighs opinions on supportability and consistency with the record, which means a detailed, function-specific statement grounded in the treatment notes carries far more weight than a brief letter saying a patient is disabled.
Does being over 50 help my claim?
It can. The medical-vocational guidelines make it progressively harder for the SSA to conclude that you can adjust to other work at 50, and harder still at 55, particularly if your past work was unskilled or physically demanding.
Can my benefits be taken away after approval?
Yes. The SSA conducts periodic continuing disability reviews and can find that your disability has ceased. You can appeal, and if you file within 10 days of the cessation notice you can generally request that payments continue during the appeal.
Can I pursue Social Security and long-term disability at the same time?
Yes, and most group LTD policies require you to apply for SSDI. Expect your insurer to offset its payment by your Social Security award, which is precisely why carriers push claimants to file.
Can you represent me if I live outside Michigan?
Yes. Social Security Disability is federal, and we represent claimants in all 50 states. Hearings are routinely conducted by video and telephone, so where you live does not limit your access to experienced representation.
Talk to a Nationwide Social Security Disability Lawyer
If a medical condition has ended your ability to work, the process ahead is long, technical, and unforgiving of missed deadlines. We can tell you where your claim stands, what the record is missing, and what the next step should be.
There is no attorney fee unless we obtain benefits for you, and fees in Social Security cases are set by regulation and approved by the SSA. Contact Nationwide Disability Law today for a free consultation.
