Get everything you'll need to succeed in a disability claim with an insightful overview of the laws, definitions, procedures, and tactics involved in researching and proving impairments. This course will walk you through the major steps of the claim procedure and offer time-tested methods for selecting cases, presenting them with the SSA and coordinating SSDI with claimants' other sources of income. Build a solid foundation for your practice – order today!

1. Overview of the Law, Operating Terms and Procedure
2. First Steps and the Search for Claim-Supporting Evidence
3. Social Security Disability Case Management
4. Mental Impairment Claims
5. Effective Hearing Tactics – What Administrative Law Judges Want You to Know
6. Strategies for the Appeals Council and Federal District Court
7. Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls
8. Handling Changes in Benefits
9. Coordinating SSDI with Workers' Comp and Other Benefits and Income Sources
10. Attorneys' Fees – Sources and Methods of Recovery

OVERVIEW OF THE LAW, OPERATING TERMS AND PROCEDURE
8:30 - 9:10, Beth A. Alpert

• Key Term Definitions and Abbreviations
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) vs. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Eligibility Rules: Medical vs. Nonmedical Requirements
• How Disability is Measured – The Grids and Residual Functional Capacity
• Governing Law (POMS, HALLEX, SSRs, ARs, Case Law, CFR and SS Act)
• SSDI Claim Procedural Steps (Initial Claim, Local SSA Office Review, Determination, Reconsideration, Appeal, ODAR ALJ Hearing, Appeals Counsel, Civil Action in U.S. District Court)

FIRST STEPS AND THE SEARCH FOR CLAIM-SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
9:10 - 10:00, Deborah Spector

• Client Intake and Questionnaire – Looking for Conflicting Information in the Client's File
• Claim Evaluation - Red Flags to Look out for
• The Five (or Three) Steps of the Sequential Evaluation
• Reopening a Prior Application – How Far Back Can You Go?
• SSA/ODAR Communications (Including Specific Forms to Complete and SSA Response to Case Backlog)
• Difference in Evaluating Physical vs. Mental Claims
• Obtaining Case Supporting Documentation
• Determining the Onset of Disability (Including Date Last Insured)
• Proving Pain
• Medical History and Treating Doctors' Opinions
• Employment History
• Functional Exertional and Non-Exertional Limitations
• Daily Activity Diaries
• Special Considerations in Child Disability Claims

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CASE MANAGEMENT
10:15 - 10:45, Jan L. Kodner

• Keeping Control of a Social Security Disability Case (Or Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts)

MENTAL IMPAIRMENT CLAIMS
10:45 - 11:20, Deborah Spector

• Should You Survey Listing 12.00 or Focus on One Particular Listing?
• Personality Disorders – Are They Real, How Can You Prove Your Case?
• Can Your Client Meet Listing 12.08?
• Faking or Response Distortion in Personality Assessment
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) – Can You Prove the Client's Listing IQ?
• Social Security Listing of Impairment: 12.05
• What Limitations Does a Low IQ Cause?
• Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF)
• Changes in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM-5)

EFFECTIVE HEARING TACTICS - WHAT ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES WANT YOU TO KNOW
11:20 - 12:00, Beth A. Alpert

• Preparation
• Pre-Hearing Briefs and Other Submissions
• Amended Onset Dates and Wages Recorded after Onset Date
• Effective Exhibits
• Direct Examination of the Claimant
• Cross-Examining Medical and Vocational Experts

STRATEGIES FOR THE APPEALS COUNCIL AND FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT
1:00 - 1:30, Deborah Spector

• Procedure
• Effective Arguments
• Brief Writing Tactics
• Timing Considerations

AVOIDING ETHICAL PITFALLS
1:30 - 2:30, Written by Roger S. Hutchison
Presented by Beth A. Alpert, Roger S. Hutchison, Jan L. Kodner and Deborah Spector

• Judicial Misconduct
• Representative Misconduct
• Client Misconduct
• Guarding Confidentiality
• Addressing Negative Evidence

HANDLING CHANGES IN BENEFITS
2:45 - 3:15, Roger S. Hutchison

• Death of the Claimant during Litigation
• Representative Payees
• Benefits Modification Based on Rate of Recovery
• Return to Work Considerations

COORDINATION OF SSDI WITH WORKERS' COMP AND OTHER BENEFITS AND INCOME SOURCES
3:15 - 4:15, Roger S. Hutchison

• With Workers' Compensation
• Disability Definition in Workers' Comp vs. SSDI
• What the Offset Applied to and How Much is Calculated
• “Average Current Earnings” – Exclusions from Offset Formula
• Changes in the Amount of Workers' Compensation
• Different Impairments can Cause the Same Disability
• “Periodic” Benefits
• Overpayments of SSDIB
• Sharing of Evidence
• With a Personal Injury Settlement
• With Trust Distributions and Other Sources of Income
• The Effect of SSD/SSI Receipt on Medicaid Eligibility
• Why File for SSDI and Social Security Retirement at the Same Time
• Is the Claimant Applying for Unemployment Benefits too?
• Veteran's Service-Connected Disability, Non-Service Disability and/or SSDI and SSI

ATTORNEYS' FEES – SOURCES AND METHODS OF RECOVERY
4:15 - 4:40, Deborah Spector

• From Federal Government
• From the Back Due Benefits
• Fee Petition
• Fee Agreement – When Can You Get More than the Fee Cap?
• In a Partially Favorable Ruling Case
• Pursuing Unpaid Fees
• Fees in Federal Court
• Seeking Fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA)

BETH A. ALPERT is a partner in the firm of Beth Alpert & Associates in Chicago, where she concentrates her practice in the area of Social Security disability. She is a past president of the National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives and a current board member of the Chicago Bar Association (Social Security Committee). Ms. Alpert is a frequent speaker on various issues dealing with Social Security. She earned her B.A. degree from Smith College, her M.B.A., and J.D. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.

ROGER S. HUTCHISON is a sole practitioner in Orland Park, Illinois, where he practices in the areas of automobile accidents, wrongful death, Social Security and Social Security disability. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Illinois and his J.D. degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Mr. Hutchison is a member of the Chicago and Illinois State bar associations, and the South Suburban Bar Association.

JAN L. KODNER is a sole practitioner in Chicago. He earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Illinois and his J.D. degree, with honors, from Chicago Kent College of Law. Since 2003, Mr. Kodner has been ranked among the top Social Security disability law attorneys in Illinois. He is a past chairman of the Chicago Bar Association subcommittee on Social Security law. Mr. Kodner also is a sustaining member of the National Association of Social Security Claimant's Representatives (NOSSCR) and a member of the AARP Legal Plan, where he is on the referral panel. He also is on the referral panel for the Chicago Bar Association, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, NOSSCR and The Ark. Mr. Kodner has presented many talks and continuing legal education sessions at both NOSSCR and CBA conferences.

DEBORAH SPECTOR is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Spector & Lenz, P.C., where she practices in the area of Social Security disability. She earned her B.A. degree from Stanford University and her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from DePaul University College of Law. Ms. Spector has lectured frequently on her area of practice.

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Phone: 866-240-1890

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