Discussion: Kentucky Lawyer Pleads Guilty In Massive Disability Scheme

The lawyer bribed judges and doctors so he could eliminate all risk, win the cases and get paid. The people applying for benefits are not the ones who committed fraud. Most of these folks are disabled and will be reinstated.

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They may well have been awarded benefits in any case. They were not party to the fraud. This is a lawyer bribing a judge to guarantee victory, instead of say winning 65-70% of the time.

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No this is incorrect. About half the people who apply for disability in a given year will eventually be awarded benefits (over time the number rises a bit since people do re-apply). About 2/3 of those who are awarded benefits get them at the initial stage of adjudication.

The number approved on initial filing is much much lower. The standard is so high to get disability that only the most obvious of obvious cases are approved at initial filing.

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You are slightly confused. About 35 out of a hundred get approved at the initial level. Another 15 out of a hundred will get approved at the subsequent stages of appeal. So 35/50 is about 70%. Seventy percent of people who apply in a given year will will be awarded benefits from the first stage of adjudication.

Chapter and verse:
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2015/sect04.html

35 out of 100 is not 2/3rds.
Thank you for the citation for the stats. What I am saying which is still accurate is you have to meet a listing to be approved at the initial filing.
Asking for reconsideration and getting approved is NOT initial filing.

I’m sure you’ve seen the movie “Matewan.”

https://www.send2press.com/wire/2009-11-1102-002/ It doesn’t tell us which party he belonged to but wow! The ‘nerve’ of this guy was amazing!

What I said is that 2/3 of the people who get awarded benefits have them awarded at the first stage. So it is not 35 out of 100, it is 35 out of 50 that I am describing to you.

That means it is hard to get on Social Security Disability, but it is not true that you only get on once you have hired a lawyer and appear in from of an ALJ. That is a widespread and false impression that the original poster repeated, which I am correcting.

Also, no you do not have to “meet a listing” at the initial adjudication. In fact, few do. Most awards are made because a condition or set of condition is “equivalent to” a listing or after considering vocational factors, like, “can this person do any job in the economy?”
Here is a source: http://ssab.gov/Details-Page/ArticleID/1119/Disability-Chartbook-Chapter-7-Variation-in-DDS-Decision-Making

I agree that the standards for getting on DI or SSI are high. It is not a gimme. Only half who apply get on in their first application (for some that process can take several years, for most it takes about 4 months). Many of those who are denied benefits never go back to work again, or do so at much lower levels, and they are, on average, in much worse health than the average person their age. I am happy to provide sources for the last two points as well.

I think we are speaking the same language with different words. When you say “first application” you are talking about the very first time they file whether the process takes 4 months or 2 years and whether they are approved at initial, reconsideration, ALJ, Appeals Council and Remand or Federal District Court and Remand.

I was referring only to initial filing and before the first Letter denying the application.

We agree SSD/SSI approval are not gimmes and No you don’t need a claimant’s representative/attorney but those who do have higher approval rates because the people who take on those jobs as a general rule know what needs to be proven in order to get to approval.

The last two citations are not necessary, I have a pretty good idea of what the stats are and I can tell you practice in this area of law as well. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to get approved and the MYTH that anyone can file and get disability drives me nuts because I see people get denied that deserve it, otherwise they would not be clients.

Article on Disability. I found it interesting and mostly typical of the clients I serve.

Yes I did. Also, Sid Hatfield was a distant relative of mine. My dad told me a few stories about my great-grandfather renting rooms out to union organizers, and having company goons trying to persuade him to throw them out, or allowing the goons to beat the organizers up. On one occasion, the goons were trying to set up Gatling guns in the clearing where the union organizer was going to be speaking to miners.

Latest update in this case.
This guy is probably fled to Russia.

This seemed like a good place to put this.

Another Disability Article.

Client’s dying while waiting is a real thing and what’s worse is that sometimes their claim is denied anyway.
So the surviving spouse or son or daughter does not receive the anticipated back pay.

For example, client has SEVERE diabetes type II. Dies from those complications while waiting for a hearing. Judge denied benefits to surviving adult son because the son couldn’t read well enough to sign the forms required.
No kidding.

They sold the mineral rights to pay their property taxes. They often sold the mneral rights for payment While you could make or grow anything you needed, cash was hard to come by.

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