The Differences Between Attorneys and Non-Attorney Representatives

West Coast Disability Law Group, LLP, is a law firm. This means that attorneys who went to law school and passed the California Bar Examination are handling each and every case at our firm. While this may seem obvious to some claimants, please be cautious when deciding who is going to represent you.

There are some companies that employ non-attorney representatives, or advocates, who did not attend law school and/or pass a bar exam to represent their clients. Some of these companies are not open about the fact that you will not be represented by an attorney. This is often alarming to many claimants. We get a lot of last minute calls to represent claimants at their hearings after they discover the people they hired to represent them from other companies are not in fact attorneys or even law firms.

 How can non-attorney representatives legally handle Social Security Disability claims you may ask? Both the Social Security Administration and the Veteran’s Administration started programs in which non-attorneys, or advocates, could represent claimants at hearing, and receive the same fee as an attorney for this representation, if they passed a simple multiple choice test. Thus, non-attorney advocates are able to represent claimants in both Social Security Disability and Veteran’s Disability claims at the lower levels of the disability process. If your claim should be denied at the lower levels of the Social Security Disability process and you need to appeal your claim to Federal Court, an attorney can take your claim to this next level. A non-attorney representative cannot represent claimants in Federal Court. Thus, a non-attorney representative can only handle Social Security Disability cases up to a certain level.

 Our policy at West Coast Disability Law Group, LLP, is that we only hire licensed attorneys to represent our clients. We feel that a legal education is valuable in any legal arena whether it be in securing Social Security Disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income. Hearings involve making arguments to Social Security Administrative Law Judges and cross-examining expert witnesses like doctors and vocational experts. In our experience, individuals without a legal background have difficulty presenting skillful arguments and effectively cross-examining expert witnesses. Thus, Cari and I believe that the best policy is to let attorneys handle legal matters as this is exactly what they are trained to do.

 Whether you decide to hire a non-attorney representative or a lawyer is up to you. However, we recommend asking these questions before you hire anyone:

 1.       Are you a licensed attorney?

 2.       What is your experience handling Social Security Disability claims?

 3.       How do you determine whether or not you take a claim?
 4.       Do you review evidence before taking my case?
 5.       Do you have contracts working with any long-term disability companies who may be trying to deny me  other types of benefits?

You want to make sure you hire a knowledgeable representative or attorney who is working for you and you alone. These above questions will help you figure out which representative is right for you.

Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot us an email at info@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017.