Final Regs On Law Firms Representing Claimants Cleared For Publication

     The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has cleared Social Security's proposed final rules on the recognition of law firms representing claimants. To this point, the agency has insisted that only individuals can represent claimants. In the real world, however, there are these things called law firms and they like to do things like shift responsibility for a case from one of the firm's attorneys to another, something that is now difficult both for the law firm and Social Security. There's also the problems that ensue when an attorney leaves a law firm. Who gets the fee? This is a nice step forward for everyone, including Social Security. Expect these final regulations to be published in the Federal Register before long.

Win For Law Firms

      From Bloomberg Law:

The Social Security Administration must change its procedures for paying attorneys’ fees in disability benefit disputes to allow payments to law firms and payments for work done by lawyers who later join the government, the First Circuit held.

The administration’s requirement that attorneys’ fees be paid to individual attorneys and not to law firms is arbitrary and frustrates the statutory mandate to provide a reasonable legal fee for representing Social Security disability claimants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said in a July 16 opinion.

The fact that only individual attorneys can serve as representatives in the disability claims process doesn’t justify a limitation on payments that ignores the “practical reality” that law firms “ordinarily are the ultimate recipients of fees paid to salaried associates,” the court said.

The court reached a similar conclusion with respect to the administration’s bar on paying attorneys’ fees for work completed by lawyers who later leave private practice to take a government job. The administration said this rule was necessary to comply with government-wide ethics requirements prohibiting officials from being paid to represent claimants before the administration.

The First Circuit disagreed, calling this logic “inscrutable” and “facially irrational.” ...

     The decision is in the case of Marasco & Nesselbush v. Collins, et al. 

     Social Security would only have to apply this in the relatively small First Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island) but if they don't apply it more generally there will be litigation elsewhere. Also, my hope is that those involved with Social Security policy on this issue know that something should have done about this decades ago.

Are Law Firm Scanning Personnel Essential Under A Stay At Home Order?

     My firm has employees of a legal staffing agency doing onsite scanning for us. The staffing agency says they are hearing that those doing scanning have been considered essential personnel and exempt from stay at home orders in other states. We are expecting a stay at home order in the near future. Has anyone already under a stay at home order faced this issue? Were scanning personnel considered essential and exempted from the stay at home order?

Market Research At NOSSCR

I recently received the fax shown above. You can click on it to see it full size. Apparently, a lot of other members of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) received the same fax recently. Offering to pay $150 to participate in market research gets your attention, but it is a little like being offered a free vacation and all you have to do is to hear a sales pitch for a condo or a timeshare. I do not know what this is about.

Sokolove Advertising Nationally For Social Security Clients

The Law Offices of James Sokolove has advertised on television nationally for several types of cases for years. I have recently heard that they are now advertising nationally for Social Security disability clients. Their website reflects this. I am uncertain how they work, but my guess is that they work through affiliated law firms.

Binder and Binder is also advertising nationally, although it is my understanding that they generally represent the clients themselves. Are there any other law firms -- or other entities for that matter -- advertising nationally for Social Security business? Yes, I know there are plenty of law firms, including my own, which advertise locally, but national advertising for Social Security clients is a very different matter.

Binder and Binder Sued

From the NY Daily News:

A Connecticut secretary who suffers from the "winter blues" is suing her ex-employers for $33 million, claiming they wouldn't give her a well-lit desk with a window view.

Caryl Dontfraid says she has seasonal affective disorder, which causes depression during the fall and winter and can be alleviated by exposure to bright light.

"She wanted to work closer to a window with good light," her attorney, Robert Campos-Marquetti told the Daily News. "This is a request that could have been easily accommodated."

Dontfraid was cited as an "exemplary employee" for Binder & Binder, a Park Avenue law firm specializing in disability claims.

Binder and Binder represents more Social Security disability claimants than any other law firm.