Backlog Leaves Disabled Claimants in Limbo

December 4, 2007

Doug Landau

A backlog of appeals at the Social Security Administration has left hundreds of thousands of disabled claimants bankrupt, evicted and in some cases dead, attorneys and agency officials say. Governmental infighting has slowed the hiring of new judges to hear SSDI appeals, which currently numbers 755,000. The wait for Hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has grown from 258 days in 2000 to more than 500 days currently. Without added judges, agency officials expect the backlog of SSDI to grow. It is for this reason that Herndon Super Lawyer Doug Landau encourages his disability clients to apply for Social Security benefits as soon as they have supporting medical evidence indicating they cannot do their old job, or any other work in the national economy.
The disability process is complicated. The standards for approval of these claims is intentionally strict. It was designed to be difficult in order to prevent malingering and drains on the treasury. It is also subjective in claims involving mental illness and pain that cannot be tested. That is why Virginia Trial Lawyer Doug Landau advises Landau Law Shop clients to prepare for a live Hearing in front of an ALJ. As shown in other SSDI postings, it may be the Abrams Landau clients’ best chance at success.

Erik Eckholm, The New York Times 12/10/2007. Read full article.