We’re Working at Full Capacity with Staff at Home Dear Clients and Colleagues: In the midst of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, we hope that you are all remaining safe and healthy and are staying at home.  The next few weeks and months will be challenging, but you are not alone — we are all in

(This article first appeared in the newsletter for the Minnesota State Bar Association Social Security Section) Claimants are often approved for disability based on the impairments they believe to be primary such as chronic pain, arthritis, or mental illness – but not always. Some individuals stand a better chance of winning disability based on secondary

When testifying at the Social Security hearing, claimants will often say they can’t work because of some condition – bipolar disorder, dermatitis, degenerative disc disease, or other conditions.  But what judges are really looking for is for you to tell them in your own words how your disability affects you. In short, they – and

Not surprisingly, Social Security has a strict policy of forbidding weapons of any kind being carried into a Social Security Disability hearing.  What does surprise me is the frequency of occurrences where this is a problem. Recently, one of my clients traveled up to Minneapolis from Rochester with his mother.  I had warned him not

This past February, two hearings on the same day showed me how national policy changes can cause problems for people already struggling with the hardship of their disability. Up until recently, Social Security judges would travel to Mankato, Rochester, Hibbing, and other places throughout Minnesota.  Unfortunately, Social Security set a national policy restricting judges from