The best time to hire an attorney is when your disability claim is denied by the Social Security Administration. An attorney can file your appeal and represent you at the hearing in front of the Social Security Judge. After your denial, you have 60 days to file your appeal. But it is good to hire an attorney quickly, and file your appeal quickly, because there is a long wait between when you file an appeal and when the claim is assigned for hearing. I prefer to start the appeal process as soon as possible, so that my client is assigned a hearing date as soon as possible.

In Louisiana the wait for a hearing can be as long as a year or more. The Social Security Administration’s wait time stats for your jurisdiction can be found here.

Once your hearing is completed, the ALJ writes a decision granting or denying your benefits. It takes about two months to receive an opinion from most ALJ’s, but sometimes it takes longer. When a favorable opinion is rendered, the opinion is sent to the benefits facility for processing and it generally takes a couple of months for SSA to issue your first check. As you can see, the whole process, from application to benefits, can take over a year.

Sally Greer’s story, published in the Orange County Register, is similar to the story of most of my clients. And the wait times in her jurisdiction are similar to the wait times experienced in most of Louisiana. Sally’s story is a real world example of what to expect when waiting on your claim to be approved.

Contact the Nicholson Law Firm today for a free consultation. The Nicholson Law Firm has offices in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. We cover the entire state of Louisiana, including Bossier City, Alexandria, Lafayette, Monroe Gonzales, Livingston, Amite, Hammond, Covington, Denham Springs, New Orleans, Port Allen, Plaquemine, New Roads, and many other cities.

Contact us today at (225) 281-7715 for our Baton Rouge office or (318) 618-0303 for our Shreveport office

The contents of this website do not constitute legal advice. The information contained on this site is for general information only and should not be applied to any specific situation. Any use of the site does not create or constitute a client-lawyer relationship between Nicholson Law Firm and the user of the site. If you require legal advice, consult with an experienced attorney.