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 and presenting them with the SSA. 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. Mental Impairment Claims
4. Effective Hearing Tactics – What Administrative Law Judges Want You to Know
5. Strategies for the Appeals Council and Federal District Court
6. Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls
7. Attorneys' Fees – Sources and Methods of Recovery

OVERVIEW OF THE LAW, OPERATING TERMS AND PROCEDURE
8:30 - 9:45, Kirk B. Roose

• 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

FIRST STEPS AND THE SEARCH FOR CLAIM-SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
10:00 - 11:15, Scott F. Smith

• 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

MENTAL IMPAIRMENT CLAIMS
11:15 - 12:05, Kirk B. Roose and Scott F. Smith

• 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
1:05 - 2:20, Hon. Ronald A. Marks

• 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
2:20 - 2:45, Kirk B. Roose

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

AVOIDING ETHICAL PITFALLS
3:00 - 4:00, Kirk B. Roose and Scott F. Smith

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

ATTORNEYS' FEES – SOURCES AND METHODS OF RECOVERY
4:00 - 4:40, Scott F. Smith

• 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)

HON. RONALD A. MARKS served as an Administrative Law Judge assigned to the Social Security Administration from 2004 to 2010. He was first placed in Cleveland and served as the Chief Judge of the then largest and busiest Social Security Disability Office in the USA. In 2008 Judge Marks transferred to the Seven Fields, PA office. He began service on the Appeals Council June 1st, 2010 and finished his career on the Appeals Council and Decision Review Board for Region I. Judge Marks has lectured for various professional groups and is a former adjunct professor at Kent State University. He earned his B.A. degree from Youngstown State University and his J.D. degree from Ohio Northern University Law School.

KIRK B. ROOSE is the managing attorney of the law firm of Roose & Ressler, A Legal Professional Association, which practices social security disability law and has offices in Toledo, Oberlin and Wooster. He has practiced social security law for more than 25 years. Mr. Roose frequently lectures to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, the Ohio Association of Trial Lawyers and the Dickinson School of Law. He is a sustaining member of the National Organization of social security Claimants' Representatives and a member of the Lorain County Bar Association. Mr. Roose earned his B.A. degree from Swarthmore College and J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

SCOTT F. SMITH is a partner in the Akron law firm of Sternberg Newman Shifrin Inc., where he focuses his practice on Social Security disability law, family law and criminal law. Mr. Smith has been admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Ohio, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He is a member of the Akron Trial Lawyers Association and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR). Mr. Smith is a member of the Investigative Subcommittee and serves on the Fee Dispute Panel for the Akron Bar Association. Recently, he was granted a fellowship by the Akron Bar Association foundation. He has been named to the Advisory Board of Rockynol Retirement Center and is a barrister for Scanlon Inn of Court. Mr. Smith earned his B.A. degree from Kent State University and his J.D. degree from the University of Akron.

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Phone: 866-240-1890

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