Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Social Security Disability Attorney Fees

People are sometimes reluctant to seek an attorney's advice for legal issues. Many times people are concerned that they cannot afford to be represented by a disability attorney and therefore they decide to represent their own disability benefits case. While you are allowed to represent yourself, doing so because you are concerned with cost is not necessarily the right reason. Many attorneys charge fees only if you win social security disability benefits.

When looking for an attorney for your social security disability claim it is important to find one that you are comfortable with. Having trust in your attorney to win your disability case is crucial. It is also important that you know how all SSD attorney fees are structured. One way disability attorney fees can be structured is to only collect if you win benefits and draw attorney fees from your pool of back benefits pay.

What this does is create a situation that requires your attorney to win disability benefits for you in order to collect attorney fees. If your attorney does not win, then you pay no fees. This puts you in a situation where you have nothing to lose (and everything to gain). Equally important to paying attorney fees only if you win is to ensure you receive your full disability benefits that do not include attorney fees. This is done by capping attorney fees.

Capped Attorney Fees for Winning a Disability Claims

What is a fair disability attorney fee for winning your case? You don't want to feel that you paid too much in attorney fees, but at the same time if you represent yourself and lose you'll be kicking yourself because you didn't consult with an attorney to represent your disability claim. A practice that appeals to claimants is to pay disability attorney fees using back benefits that are owed to you. This is the time period from the date you became disabled to the time you win benefits.

Back Benefits and Disability Attorney Fees

Many do not know that you may be able to receive back disability benefits from the date of disability. It is important to know that you can apply for disability benefits the day you become disabled. If you win disability benefits you may receive back benefits from the date you became disabled. These back benefits are capped at on year prior to the date you filed for disability. Another words, if you wait longer than one year to apply for disability from the date you became disabled you will not be able to collect those benefits. These back benefits pool is a place where attorney fees can come from. It is ideal for the claimant for benefits to come from a pool of back benefits and not future benefits.

Having Doubt with Self Representation

If you are having doubts with self-representing it is recommended you speak with an experienced attorney that is knowledgeable with social security disability cases. Find a lawyer that you trust to represent your claim and look into how attorney fees are structure. Ideally you want to pay only if the attorney wins your disability claim and ensure attorney fees are capped on your back benefits.


Learn more about Social Security Disability Lawyers