Appealed my SSDI denial with a lawyer, wish I'd done it 8 months earlier

I fought my initial SSDI denial on my own for months. Got a letter in November 2023 saying no, and I just kept resubmitting paperwork myself. Then my neighbor (who used to work at SSA) told me, 'You're playing chess against someone who's played 10,000 games.' So I finally hired a disability attorney in Fresno. She charged nothing upfront, took 25% of back pay if I won. She found two things I missed: a missing nerve conduction study from my chiropractor and a med record that contradicted the state doctor's report. We appealed in March, got approved in June. Back pay was $14,300, lawyer got $3,575. I spent 8 months stressed and broke for nothing. Has anyone else waited too long to get a rep, or was I just being stubborn?

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1 Comment

the_piper1mo ago

Ngl, I read about a study once that said people who get a lawyer early on in the SSDI process end up with way higher approval rates, like 60% vs 30% for folks who go it alone. That nerve conduction study thing is exactly the kind of evidence the SSA always wants and you'd never think to dig for it on your own. I waited 11 months before I got my advocate, and my denial letter literally had a typo on my name that messed up the whole file. Cost me so much time and I was already sick and exhausted, plus my rent was piling up. It's not about being stubborn, it's that nobody tells you the system is basically built to trip you up unless you know all the little tricks. I'm glad you finally got approved, but yeah, that 8 months of stress is something you can't get back.