Federal Disability Claim Appeal Lawyers in Fort Wayne

What Happens in the Last Step of a Social Security Disability Appeal?

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The last stage of appealing a Social Security Disability denial is filing a lawsuit in a Federal District Court. This takes you out of Social Security’s own process. You’re asking a federal judge to reverse your denial.

A federal Social Security Disability appeal requires you to present legal arguments about how Social Security’s decision-making was flawed.

You do this in court filings that a judge reviews.

Not all disability lawyers handle federal court appeals. It’s a different process from Social Security’s administrative appeal steps. You want someone who knows this process well.

The Fort Wayne disability attorneys at Fletcher Van Gilder can represent you in a federal court appeal. We have experience handling hundreds of disability appeals at all levels, including appealing to federal court when that becomes necessary.

Disability benefits denials are common, but the appeals process gives you multiple chances to make your case, up to having an independent federal judge or magistrate judge assess the final decision of the Social Security Administration (SSA) process.

Read on for more about how federal disability claim appeals work, how you could still seek another chance at vital economic assistance, and how a lawyer from FVG can help.

In Fort Wayne and across Northeast Indiana, we help people pursue the disability benefits they’re entitled to receive.

When Can I File a Federal Social Security Disability Appeal?

You have to go through multiple steps of the SSA’s disability appeals process before you can ask a federal judge to review your claim.

Step #1: Reconsideration

When you’re first denied disability benefits, you can ask Social Security for reconsideration within 60 days of your denial letter. In this step, another claims examiner gives your application a fresh look. Most of the time, though, people still get denied at this step.

Step #2: Disability Hearing

If you’re denied again, you can ask for a disability hearing in front of a Social Security administrative law judge. The judge is an official inside Social Security, not a judge in a separate federal court. This may be your best chance to win benefits, with typically the highest approval rates.

This is your chance to talk to a decision maker personally about how your health problems have disrupted your life and ability to work.

Step #3: Appeals Council Review

If you receive an unfavorable decision from the administrative law judge, you can request review from the Social Security Appeals Council. That’s a group in Social Security that decides whether to uphold the hearing decision, reverse it, or send your case back for a new hearing.

The Appeals Council is the last step within the Social Security Administration. If the council rejects your arguments to overturn the hearing judge’s decision, now you can file your complaint in a federal court.

It takes months for Social Security to process your claim after you apply for disability, and every stage of the appeal adds more waiting time.

If you’re filing a federal disability appeal, you’ve likely spent years fighting for benefits.

Speak to a Fort Wayne Social Security Disability attorney about your case and what to expect of this last opportunity to preserve your claim for benefits.

Start with a FREE disability appeal consultation.

What Happens in a Federal Disability Appeal?

For a federal court disability appeal, you need to analyze everything that has happened in your case so far, identify errors by Social Security, submit legal briefs with your arguments for why you should be awarded benefits, and pay a filing fee.

You won’t go into a courtroom where you plead your case to the judge. It’s unlikely that there will be any oral arguments at all. This step in appealing happens mostly on paper.

You can’t introduce new evidence, like medical records with updates on your condition, in a Federal District Court disability appeal.

The judge focuses on how the process has unfolded to this point and whether Social Security decided wrongly based on the information already in your file.

It can take around a year for a decision. The judge could deny your claim, decide that you qualify for benefits and approve your claim, or send you back for another disability hearing.

The most likely positive result is having the judge send your case back to Social Security with instructions to review it differently.

Let the FVG team guide you through this.

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Fletcher Van Gilder

Do I Need an Indiana Disability Lawyer for a Federal Disability Claim Appeal?

As you move through the steps of a disability benefits appeal, it gets harder and harder to handle it alone without a disability lawyer. You need to make legal arguments and identify appealable errors by Social Security.

When you get to federal court, your success depends on written legal briefs, a job for a lawyer.

The FVG Indiana disability attorneys have the training and experience to argue to a federal judge that our clients deserve Social Security Disability benefits.

This could be your final opportunity to win benefits that could help you reclaim financial stability and independence.

Don’t take chances with it. You can contact the disability attorneys of FVG for help at any point in the SSD application or appeals process.

Contact Us Today.

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