I just received a $436.88 attorney fee in a case that was approved in November 2015. The fee had been miscomputed originally. We notified the payment center of the problem at that time. They agreed that there was a problem. It's taken them seven years to correct the problem. Seven years.
In case you're wondering (or trying to find some way to blame me for the delay) the case involved Disability Insurance Benefits, Disabled Adult Child Benefits and Supplemental Security Income benefits, meaning that benefits were computed in three locations, meaning that the chances of everything being computed correctly were low. Actually, a mispayment that only affected attorney fees is about as good as you could hope for, although you would hope it would take less than seven years to correct the mistake.
11 comments:
Makes one wonder why SSA is involved in a contract between a representative and his client. Sounds like it would be better for you to get your fees directly from your client and that SSA's mission should be on administering benefits.
@9:18: I think you would very quickly be begging SSA for help again if this hair-brained dream of yours were ever to materialize. Ever tried to get destitute people to pay you for services they have already received? Many don’t pay, either because they can’t, and simply respond with complaints about the quality of help you provided. Then, you get to drag them into court to try and collect money from them, which, by the way, the courts usually can’t get out of them due to the myriad rules in place to protect the poor from creditors.
In the end, this wacky dream of yours will only make you poorer, and create a system wherein the poor are completely reliant on legal aid or pro bono representation.
Maybe make a rule that waives user fees if the agency takes more than 6 months to pay a rep?
9:39 makes a great point. Why is the system so complex that a lawyer has to be involved and be forced to take money from "destitute" people who "cant pay" and have laws to "protect the poor." That whole statement tells us how screwed up the system is and how completely and totally it fails those who need it.
@10:34: Because this is America, where people loathe the idea of just giving money to poor people without forcing them to navigate torturous bureaucratic mazes (unless, of course, it’s handled through a church or similar organization that can wield the money for coercive and/or discriminatory means).
Social Security didn't withhold my fee on a claim. It took two years for them to finally send the letter telling the claimant they accidentally forgot to withhold the fee and the claimant owed me 3000. The claimant died shortly before they sent the letter out so I got a call from his widow. I told her I'm waiving the fee because I'm not going to try to collect a fee from her husbands estate.
@9:39 - ridiculous. Attorneys get paid directly from the client in almost every other area of law. The retro check from SSA could come to the law firm, the lawyer takes out their fee and gives the rest to the client. Just like in a personal injury claim, for example. It would take SSA out of paying attorney's fees. And any dispute can in fees can still be handled by SSA - or a report to the state bar.
@9:29 I was "destitute" at one time, and I paid my lawyer FIRST. So, destitute people do pay their bills. I've never been late on anything (except waiting on SSDI, I lost everything, credit was in the tank, bank account closed...it was a miserable 3 years of BS), but I know who those are that helped me, and they certainly got paid first, even when I was still "destitute", I needed that money! Alas, it belonged to my lawyer, and I knew it when the first back payment arrived, I got a cashiers check, and walked it 3 miles to their office (no money for gas). We're not all bad... I promise.
Because a sizeable number of people in this country believe that the majority of people on disability are full of it and just lazy leeches. There's a reason why SSA OIG continues to be able to expand and expand without any semblance of oversight despite the myriad problems there.
1:35 the key issue you identified is that in PI cases, the check is sent to the lawyer. Will SSA do that or just send all retro to the claimant? Those are very different.
If the former, what if SSA forgets and sends it to the claimant instead?
What if there is a question about if there is a rep or who it is (like if SSA improperly inputs the 1696 or fails to input one at all)?
What if there were multiple reps?
Does SSA stop approving fees and reps can charge whatever they want?
Are there still fee petitions for cases without retro benefits?
Not saying the current system is perfect but changing it is not a simple proposition.
@4:01 -
The first thing on your list happens sometimes now - SSA forgets to withhold the fee and sends it all to the claimant.
The second thing on your list happens sometimes now and is sometiemes the cause of the first thing.
The third thing could be a new problem.
The fourth thing - Frankly, what right does the agency have to tell someone what they can contract for? Isn't that a matter between the client and the lawyer?
For the answer to number five - see the answer to number 4.
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