Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
There was a national article carried by the Times Daily about certain social security judges out of Kingsport, Tennessee that paid very nearly every case that came before them. The article implied that these Administrative Law Judges found nearly everyone who had a hearing before them to be disabled. While that may be true for those specific judges, it certainly isn’t true nationally or even in that office.
In fact, I tried a case the day before the article came out before a very capable judge locally who questioned the witnesses and the claimant about how and why the claimant was disabled and what could be done to encourage or enable the person to work. I told my client that if we did not win the case that they should go through adult vocational rehabilitation through the State and maybe with their help, at least attempt to work so that if they had to reapply they could then show the judge a very real effort they had made to be able to work.
The article in the newspaper was quite misleading. Nationally 20% of all cases are dismissed. Another 40% are denied, leaving about 40% paid. Tennessee’s average is 15% dismissed, 36% denied and 49% paid. Even in the office that was the subject of the newspaper article only slightly over half of the cases were approved. Our local office has judges that range from 17% approval rates to 53% approval rates. Our local office approves less than the national average.
It should be said that no claimant’s case should be decided based on the effect that the decision to approve or not approve that case will have on the judges statistical scoring. The true fact of the matter is that the law is the same for everyone who applies and every judge that decides. The difference is that different judges give more or less weight to different types of evidence. There are many factors that affect whether or not a particular individual with a particular set of job skills can continue to work given an injury or limiting medical condition. A good Social Security attorney needs not only to know the Social Security rules and regulations but also have a thorough understanding of how various disabilities affect the ability to maintain employment.
Buckle up and drive safely.
McCutcheon & Hamner, P.C.
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, Alabama 35630
Telephone: 256-764-0112
Facsimile: 256-764-1124
