If you’re looking to hire a social security lawyer, many different questions may be running through your head about how best to accomplish that goal. If you haven’t had much experience working with lawyers, you might be a little confused as to how the hiring process actually works. You might also be confused about how the payment of a social security lawyer works as well.
Understanding contingency
Many attorneys charge up-front fees or a retainer when agreeing to work on a particular case. However, most disability lawyers do not work under that particular business model. Instead, they work “on contingency,” which means they will only be paid if they win your case.
When you agree to work with a particular lawyer, you will sign a contingency agreement that allows the Social Security Administration (or SSA) to pay your attorney should your claim be approved. This agreement serves to ensure that the attorney will receive payment should they win the case.
It shouldn’t usually cost you anything to hire a disability lawyer; any fees will be paid out of the disability award you will receive if you win your case. However, some disability lawyers will charge a small fee to pay for various nominal costs associated with the legal process. However, the SSA will usually take that money (up to $6,000) out of your next disability award, which means it won’t come directly and immediately out of your pocket.
Legal fees
There are limits on the fees of attorneys for any form of legal representation, and disability and social security law is no different. These lawyers cannot collect more than 25% of the benefits paid to their client up to the value of $6,000.
Instead of billing their clients directly, social security lawyers will bill the SSA. The fees for these bills will come out of the back benefits you are due at the time of your disability approval. The balance of your benefits that does not go directly into the legal fees after you win your claim will be sent to you, the claimant, via a check or through direct deposit.
However, if you are not awarded any past-due benefits, the fees will not be paid because the attorney will not have won the case.
These factors motivate social security lawyers to get the SSA to recognize the exact dates when you realized the onset of your disability because it can often mean more of a payout for them later on.
Other fees associated with disability lawyers
If you have to incur any out of pocket costs, they will most likely be for small expenses such as postage and requests for any medical records needed for the case.
Before you hire a disability or social security attorney, it’s important to ask how they deal with the out of pocket costs generally associated with these kinds of cases.
A reminder
It is completely and strictly illegal for a social security lawyer to charge you any upfront or ongoing fees while assisting you with filing your disability claim. If any lawyer seems like they intend to charge you any of those fees, they’re most likely trying to take advantage of you, and they should not be trusted under any circumstances.
Benefits of hiring an attorney
All this information can be very confusing and difficult to navigate without extensive legal experience. For this reason, hiring a social security lawyer is a beneficial idea, because they can guide you through the ins and outs of filing a claim and working through the process itself.
When talking to a social security lawyer about potentially representing you, it’s important to ask them a lot of questions to make sure you understand the extent of how much they can help you. By doing your research, you can make sure that you find a social security lawyer who will work hard to ensure that you win your case!
