A message I received:
HELLO. I AM A CLAIMS SPECIALIST WORKING WITHIN SSA IN THE PROCESS OF APPLYING TO LAW SCHOOL. I KNOW THAT MANY ATTORNEYS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ABOUT SSA AND THE EXPERIENCES WORKING WITH THE AGENCY. COULD YOU MAKE A POST ASKING CURRENT AND PRIOR ATTORNEYS TO SHARE WISDOM TO SOMEONE INTERESTED IN PURSUING DISABILITY LAW? I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF DISABILITY LAW IS THE RIGHT PATH, OR IF I SHOULD INSTEAD PURSUE CIVIL/HUMAN RIGHTS LAW. THANK YOU!
My advice to this person is to not write anything all in caps but I’ll let others make more substantive comments.
21 comments:
There are few advancement opportunities for attorneys at SSA. And, the attorneys at SSA are greatly underappreciated and underpaid at SSA compared to other federal agencies.
Well as a fellow claims specialist…the only advice I can give is whatever you decide, leaving SSA will be the best decision for your mental health and your career.
There is no law or rule that locks you into any one area of practice. When in law school, keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground for any opportunity that appears before you.
Your path may not be as limited or as set as you believe. Explore other areas and get involved in activities. You may find that another area of law piques your interest.
However, that being said, try it. When all is said and done, if you like it, keep doing it. If not, you can always pursue a different area later.
I started disability law 9 years ago. I've been in practice 24 years. It took 15 years of trying different areas, private practice, and working for others before I found Social Security. It's never too late to find your passion.
do not waste your time going to law school
I'm going to get some popcorn, this should be entertaining.
I have practiced SSD law exclusively for 20 years from every perspective public and private. It has been a rewarding career but it's not a traditional law school path -- I didn't even learn about the program until 4 years after I graduated. One thing is for certain...When you finish law school you may well fall in love with a different area of law and never see SSD again. The career chooses the attorney rather than vice versa.
I second the recommendation to take it easy with the cap lock button...
My serious response, however, is to seek out some experience first. Find a disability law firm or legal aid clinic and ask for a clerk job. Getting some first hand experience about these types of clients and this type of practice is important. Since this person is not even in law school yet, their opinions will likely change. I wanted to be a prosecutor when I started law school, then shifted to environmental law once I was in law school and then became a disability lawyer once I started clerking for a disability law firm and received a job offer when I graduated and passed the bar. Twenty-six years later I'm a managing partner in the same firm and still practicing disability law. It's not a bad practice overall: I take satisfaction helping individuals, the mixture of law and medicine is interesting, and going to "court" frequently (administrative hearings) appeals to me. You don't have the long billable hour requirements of "big law" so qualify of life can be better. And, the practice can still compensate well when run correctly. Overall, if you can land in the right spot, I'd recommend representing SSD claimants.
If you feel a desire to help people with disabilities while making a living there are many things you can do with a law degree. They are not going to be the most remunerative positions in the legal profession, but you can make a reasonably comfortable living if you work at it. There is always room for a driven and competent lawyer in this field.
Besides handling Social Security claims, there are many ways for a lawyer to help people with disabilities. Lawyers handle disability rights and discrimination cases in private practice, not for profit organizations, and in government service. Such cases can involve disability rights in employment, access to private businesses and public facilities, and other matters. Personal injury and workers compensation lawyers in private practice play a vital role in keeping insurance companies more reasonable in providing fair compensation to accident victims. Lawyers in private practice and at not-for-profits can help veterans with disabilities get the health and disability benefits that they are entitled to. Some lawyers help families provide for care for people with disabilities by setting up trusts and securing vital benefits. Other lawyers advise businesses in how to comply with disability rights laws. Disability crosscuts many areas of legal practice. Best wishes in finding the field that is right for you.
So when selling the profession it is all roses but any other day on this blog, it is I am going broke, I have to retire, there is no money to do this.
Love it!!!!
The Claims Specialist position in the payment center is the best job I've ever had. It is interesting, challenging and I love working independently.
I've been in the Congressional unit and the managers give us the necessary time to get the case right. No pressure for production, so I can look up procedure and do the necessary research.
The salary at GS-11 step 10 will be over 100K next year, and that is before overtime. With annual leave, sick leave, health insurance benefits, why would I leave? I stopped applying for jobs years ago. I will do this job until I retire.
My advice is to stay at SSA, and not to put yourself through the stress and uncertainty of a law school career. I know of several SSA employees who went through law school and decided the federal career was better, and here they are.
I am a pioneer in the field of Social Security Disability Law. I have practiced since 1973. Despite being 7th in my class of 58, being a member of the Law Journal and on the Dean's Honor Roll I could not find a job. I had something like 14 interviews, I had excellent references including the Dean of my Law School. Part of the problem is that at the time (1973) the local bar and law firms were not "integrated." There were no women in the local law firms, there were no blacks in the local law firms, there were two law firms of Jewish attorneys but no Jewish members of the other law firms. I was not in any of those minorities, I was even worse, a Catholic. Two of my interviews looked at my Irish last name and asked if I was a Catholic. I answered in the affirmative. At the time, there was only one Catholic in a law firm in my community. I never got a job.
After months of no success I borrowed $1,500.00 and opened an office. I was actually pretty successful representing trades men like plumbers, air conditioning companies, etc. In 1979 a man came to me from the County Bar Referral Service. He had a case with Social Security. I confess I never heard about it before. The client had waived his hearing and had also been denied by the Appeals Council.I looked at the case and honestly told the man I knew nothing about it but I would take it. I like Federal Court work and I appealed it to the Court. I immediately found that in 1979 there was very little case law to work with. I put together a brief. The Federal Judge who had my case had previously been the Chief Judge of the Appeals Council. He took mercy on my brief and remanded the case. The client won at the Supplemental Hearing.
I passed the word around that I was getting into SSD work. A number of my attorney friends told me that there was no money in this field. Through word of mouth I built up a practice. I had no competition in my area for many years. I also took cases to the Circuit Court to establish precedent. There were a few other attorneys in my Circuit doing the same thing.
I have been in this field for 43 years. I have represented a world famous entertainer, a former Green Bay Packer, a former New York Met who played for Casey Stengel, a professional wrestler, a professional ballerina, a professional golfer, three professional gamblers, 6 fellow attorneys, 3 medical doctors, a chiropractor and many other people. I also obtained redemption to some degree in that I represented several family members (wives, children and relatives) of the attorneys in the law firms who earlier rejected me. I doubt that they even remember that they rejected me. It was fulfilling to me, however.
One thing I do not like is the advertising and case chasing that goes on now. I do not advertise. I also do not receive my share of cases. I will not advertise because I have a face for radio. Some of the attorney ads I see or hear are deceptive, if untrue. One local attorney claims to have won 25,000 cases. His time in this practice is 10 years less than me and I have handled 6,700 cases. Another local attorney states that he has the oldest Disability firm in town. He started in this field 7 years after I did. I do not like attorney advertising.
If you are going to go into this field do it totally. Take cases as far as you can, including to the Federal Courts. Most attorneys won't follow up with the Federal Courts. I am happy with my association with the Federal Courts. I have obtained many wins for my clients by persisting and appealing to the Courts. I had a case that took 19 years and it was successful. I currently have a case that has lasted 21 years. It is currently in Federal Court and I expect that it will be successful.
Attorneys work hard in my experience (as an FO claims specialist). I think most of the problems between FO and attorneys are in the staff, both at the attorney's office and in SSA. They wouldn't need to fax the same 1696 5X if SSA staff took care of the issue promptly. I rarely talked directly to an attorney but the ones I did were very kind and understanding of the limitations of the field office and agency.
Many more SSA field office employees would make the relationship much better.
While Social Security disability practice can be rewarding in that you are literally changing your clients' lives for the better, and the practice area is not especially difficult to learn and can be interesting, the economic reality is that if you want to earn a living, you will only be able to take strong cases. SSA's dysfunction, delays in paying fees and limited fee potential means that you won't be able to help the people who perhaps need help the most.
I've been practicing only Social Security disability law since I passed the bar 17 years ago. I recommend you expose yourself to as many areas of law while in law school as you can, including areas you don't think would appeal to you. That's how I found this. It's very rewarding work if you have a sincere interest in helping others, but it has changed dramatically since I started. The hearings are supposed to be non-adversarial and when I began it was the attorney helping the ALJ to reach the right decision. Now, many ALJ's view themselves as opposing counsel. It's like playing 1-on-1 basketball against the referee. You will earn far more in other areas of law, but at the end of the day it's a practice area where a skilled attorney can make a meaningful difference in people's lives and that's more than enough for me.
Being a claims specialist in the FO is not worth the 100K
I have a friend who types in all caps and large font.
She has a vision impairment.
Look at the cost effectiveness very carefully. What is your likely salary the first ten years you'll be practicing? Look up stats. How old are you? How much in loans will you need to take out. How long will it take you to pay them back. What kind of standard of living are you used to? Will you be able to maintain that after you graduate?
Knew cr that became dib attorney. He was terrible. Thought that working at ssa gave him an edge. He was a pain. Don't make that mistake
In 2008, I received a job promotion from Field Office Claims Specialists to (Decision Writer) paralegal in the hearings office. At this time, I was just getting ready to start evening law school. Well, until I sat at the lunch table and listened to (Decision Writer) attorneys complain about astronomical student loan debt plus loss opportunity costs. For instance, I had (time in) agency experience, no law degree but a higher salary than the attorneys. Remember, this was a time of recession when law firms were doing what law firms do, and working as an attorney seemed more secure. I decided law school was not worth it and deferred my acceptance.
About a year into that job, I hated being a writer. It was the mindless, mundane job I've ever held. I went back to the FO. Honestly, outside ALJs, AAJs and Federal Court, Field Office Claims Specialists will be the closest you get to actually practicing law in the agency. CS interpret policy, reopen, adjudicate, effectuate, refer fraud to OIG, issue due process, make good cause determinations, waiver determinations, select and deselect payees, suspend and reinstate benefits based on policy instructions. Yes, the decision writers have Hallex. But like Hallex-- CFRs, SSRs and acquiescence rulings are foundational to POMs as well.
Thirdly, if you want to go to law school to one day become a judge in the agency, you will need litigation experience as a requirement.
If you want the title, I get it. But if you want to practice "social security law" and save money and time, the field office is a great start. But go at your own perils.
You do realize that you don't have to go to law school to represent disability claimants, right? There are hundreds if not thousands of excellent non-attorney representatives who work successfully in this field. They will not teach you how to be a disability rep if you go to law school. You'll have an expensive degree and you do not need it unless you wish to do disability cases in federal court. You may want to look into taking the EDPNA exam that SSA offers. If you pass that, SSA will pay you directly when you win a case the same as they do attorneys. Instead of spending a ton of money on a law degree, you might look into this avenue instead. It's cheaper, faster and you still get to represent claimants. I am a non-attorney rep of many years and judges often tell me that I do a better job than many attorneys they see.
@3:35 pm. I am happy you enjoy your job. But, being a claims specialist is not doing legal work, not even close.
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