Wisconsin Disability Blog

Beginning this month, Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP will start offering potential clients the opportunity to talk to an attorney by telephone if they are unable to travel to one of our offices in Green Bay, Oshkosh or Two Rivers. Far too often we have clients who are unable to make it to one of our office locations. Sometimes this is due to financial limitations. Some clients are in no physical condition to drive for long distances. I am also aware of clients who, because of their panic disorders and agoraphobia, are afraid to leave their home unless absolutely necessary. To accommodate these potential clients, we are willing to schedule a time at which we can discuss your disability claim with one of our attorneys. To get the word out about our willingness to conduct an initial consultation with a potential client over the phone, we are rolling out a new ad this month which addresses the fact that many disabled people are unable to travel to meet with a lawyer.

We expect that all clients will eventually meet with us in person to discuss their case.  As I discussed previously, I think there is so much that can be learned during face-to-face meetings with clients that is lost by merely talking to someone over the phone.  We also ask that any clients interested in a telephone consultation be as prepared as they would be for an in-person office conference.  This means having information regarding your doctors, clinics, hospitals, medications and any work that you have done within the past 15 years handy.  It is also important that you have any paperwork relating to your Social Security disability claim with you when you speak with the attorney.

Far too frequently I hear of situations where a Social Security disability or SSI claimant meets their attorney for the first time on the day of the hearing. This troubles me. At Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP we try to establish an individual attorney-client relationship in every case. The attorney you meet with you at your initial consultation should be the attorney that handles your case and appears with you at the hearing, if we are unable to obtain benefits beforehand. In my opinion, you should have the same attorney handle your case every step of the way rather than being passed off from associate to associate within the same firm. At Winter, Chewning & Geary, LLP we do our best to make sure this happens. In the unusual situation where scheduling may prevent me from appearing at one of my client’s hearings, I will ask my partner to take on the case only with the client’s consent.

Knowing the identity of your attorney is important, but it’s also important that the attorney know you – not just your name, your medical conditions and your work history. It is important that the attorney understands your personality and has a sense of who you are as a person. Social Security disability hearings can be very dynamic situations. It is not simply a circumstance in which an attorney reads a list of questions to his clients. Rather, there is an interaction – a give-and-take – between the attorney and the client (and the judge). For your attorney to truly present your case in the best fashion in such a circumstance, it is important that the attorney has spent time with you talking about your case beforehand, preferably in person. Because I need to get to know my clients, I usually require an in-person meeting with them. While I will accept a case from time to time based on telephone contact alone, I almost invariably advise the clients that I prefer to meet face-to-face with them and expect to meet with them face-to-face prior to a hearing.

This article from today’s LaCrosse Tribune reports that a woman from western Wisconsin was sentenced after pleading guilty to providing false information to the Social Security Administration in connection with a claim for disability benefits.  I frequently advise my clients that the the worst thing they can do in the pursuit of a Social Security disability claim is to provide false information to the Social Security Administration.  As this woman learned, it is a federal offense that can result in prosecution and imprisonment.  Moreover, even if you are not prosecuted, a lie to Social Security in the disability process will usually be detected.  A lie may be be contradicted by a claimaint’s medical records, earnings record, or other sources.  If you are caught in a lie, your credibility will be irreparably damaged.  In many (most) cases whether you receive benefits will hinge in one way or another on someone’s (e.g., a judge,  doctor,  or disability examiner) assessment of your credibility as it relates to the conditions and symptoms that render you disabled.  So the bottom line is that you must be completely truthful in your interactions with the Social Security Administration…and for that matter with your disability lawyer.