The Belleville News-Democrat of Southern Illinois is running an interview with James Shaw of the Shaw Group, a provider of non-attorney representation to Social Security disability claimants. A small excerpt:
By the way, God help them with the representation of U.S. Social Security disability claimants who live overseas. I have done a little of that. If you think Social Security's domestic operations are in shambles, you ought to see what disability claimants who live overseas have to face! I have been involved with Social Security disability work for more than 30 years and I have never seen anything that comes close to the mess that Social Security has with disability claims that come in from outside U.S. borders.Q: Who does The Shaw Group represent today?
A: "We have clients in 5,000 different cities across the country, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Germany and Sweden ... These are Americans who work inside and outside of the country who become disabled. We have done these claims for those living in all 50 states and abroad, and it just keeps getting bigger than I dreamed it ever would."
I know of two instances where The Shaw Group lost a client's case and then destroyed the client's file within days of being discharged by the client, probably in violation of Illinois State Bar rules regarding file retention.
ReplyDeleteThe Shaw Group's national website holds them out as "specialists" in disability law, probably in violation of a number of state's ethics rules regarding advertising a specialty.
In the one case I know of, The Shaw Group did not meet with its client until the morning of his hearing.
Shame on the newspaper for publishing this self serving interview / advertisement.
Any claim going through OIO is f**ked up, not just disability claims. The phone numbers on the SSA Website to contact OIO are a joke. If someone answers it will be the first time it's ever happened.
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