Social Security Disability Case

[Bridgewater]

Jurisdiction

Nevada

I'm going before the United States District Court in my Social Security disability case. The court has assigned me to a Magistrate Judge. I have the option to accept or decline the magistrate judge. If I decline the Magistrate Judge, it will be reassigned to the United States District Court Judge.

I'm not really sure if this matters or what to do here. Does anybody have insight?

 

[adjusterjack]

My insight comes from several years of following my sister's effort to get Social Security Disability.

That insight says get yourself a Social Security Disability attorney ASAP.

Without one, it probably won't matter what judge hears your arguments.

If you are concerned about attorney fees, the attorney gets 25% of the past due benefits subject to a current maximum of $7200 and gets nothing from the monthly benefit.

$7200 is a small price to pay for benefits that may run into hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how young you are.

Very foolish to proceed without an attorney.

 

[army judge]

Very foolish to proceed without an attorney.

 

[Bridgewater]

Thank you for your feedback.

I called 30 attorneys and unfortunately there's no attorney that takes these types of cases. I was already approved for disability, and now they're trying to take away. I can only find two attorneys in the United States who do these types of cases. One wasn't licensed in my state, and the other didn't want my case.

I won't go into all the details, but my last attorney told me I would have to do it by myself or just forfeit. So that's what I'm doing. I understand these cards are stacked against me,
and what makes it even worse is that I am super disabled, I'm in a wheelchair and can hardly move my arms. It sucks trying to put all my effort in slowing down my disability from destroying my body, while at the same time fighting the government over this nonsense.

Right now, I only have to decide if I want to use a magistrate or not. Anyone with experience here that wishes to share would be most appreciated.

 

[adjusterjack]

I was already approved for disability, and now they're trying to take away. my last attorney told me I would have to do it by myself or just forfeit.

Would have been nice to have said that at the beginning so I wouldn't have wasted my time with useless advice.

I only have to decide if I want to use a magistrate or not.

I doubt that anybody here can help you with that decision.

I can only find two attorneys in the United States who do these types of cases. One wasn't licensed in my state, and the other didn't want my case.

The one that wasn't in your state, ask him if he's willing to apply to represent you "pro hac vice" (vice pronounced veechay). A lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction is allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction.

You might also contact the Nevada state bar for a referral.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Thank you for your feedback.

Right now, I only have to decide if I want to use a magistrate or not. Anyone with experience here that wishes to share would be most appreciated.

Which is better is going to vary somewhat by district. So part of the decision is finding out what a magistrate judge is allowed to do in your district. Magistrate judges are appointed by the district court judges and the district judges determine the scope of what the magistrate judge may do. Maybe the discussion of federal magistrate judges found here will help. In the district where I do most of my work the chief advantage of the magistrate judge is that the cases are brought to conclusion faster than the district court.

 

[Tax Counsel]

A lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction is not allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction.

Fixed that for you.

A lawyer who is not licensed (which is different from practice) in the jurisdiction where the case is being worked unless the lawyer has obtained permission to practice in that state. Applying for pro hoc vice takes some time to get approved, but in at least in my area that time is more than offset by the time saved in using the magistrate judge. Also, the out-of-state lawyer in my state needs to partner up with a licensed lawyer in my state. That will add costs to the legal expenses for things like travel and hotel for when the out of state lawyer needs to come to your state to do something. Finally, the party that loses and wants to take an appeal of his will end up with a district court judge reviewing the trial/hearing). That adds an extra layer of costs not just for trial, but also court fees, some overlap in the work of the lawyers, etc.