Every Favorable Decision is the product of tireless teamwork, and there is no greater feeling than winning a client's disability case. Below are but a few examples of our client triumphs from 2021.
Our clients rarely get denied at the hearing level. However, if they do, there’s still another chance to win the case. This is exactly what happened for William, a 55-year-old man with severe osteoarthritis, who received an unfavorable decision at his initial hearing. With William’s approval, we filed a request with the Appeals Council and were granted another chance to prove William’s disability at a second hearing. After providing additional evidence of his disability, we received a Fully Favorable decision! While William’s case was unusual, our approach to it was not. Our firm approaches every case with the determination and persistence required to go the extra mile for our clients and win them the benefits they deserve.
Jacqueline is a 60-year-old woman diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney disease and inflammatory arthritis. She left her job as a medical assistant in January of 2020, due to her chronic fatigue and pain, and hired our firm just a few months later. After we submitted her initial application and request for reconsideration and were denied, we quickly submitted a request for hearing and began preparing Jacqueline’s case.
We obtained medical assessments and records from Jacqueline’s doctors which proved that Jacqueline’s kidney disease and arthritis were debilitating enough to impede her ability to work. We helped Jacqueline through the entire process — from initial application all the way to the hearing — and we were thrilled to win her the benefits she deserves. Attorney Jeffrey Herman represented Jacqueline in front of the ALJ in October and we received her Fully Favorable decision just a few days later!
A 46-year-old man with various health issues retained our firm after submitting his own initial, reconsideration, and request for hearing applications. He wanted representation at his upcoming hearing in front of an ALJ. He struggled with many health issues, including congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, severe hypertension, and several orthopedic impairments as well. He was unable to work due to experiencing chronic pain, shortness of breath, numbness, and dizziness.
We were happy to help represent him, and felt that he had a strong case based on his extensive medical history. We worked together to obtain updated medical assessments and statements which showed the significance of his disabilities. In the hearing with ALJ John Gaffney, Attorney Jeffrey Herman expertly cited our client's extensive health issues and exhibited how exactly they impaired his ability to work even a sedentary job. A few weeks after his hearing, we received a favorable decision!
A 45-year-old woman came to our firm looking for help after both her initial application and reconsideration were denied. She struggled to hold down a job due to the chronic exhaustion and pain from her autoimmune disorders, including fibromyalgia and lupus. She even tried working from home, but her pain was unbearable. She felt that disability was her last option to help provide for her and her family, including her two sons.
Our firm submitted a request for hearing and began developing a strong case to help our client receive the benefits she needed. We gathered medical assessments from her primary doctors to submit as evidence, along with her medical records. Mr. Herman argued that her inability to work remotely was proof that she could not work at all, and therefore was a prime candidate for disability benefits. After her hearing in September, our client was overjoyed to hear she received a Fully Favorable decision from the ALJ and could now help support her family!
Our firm represented a 61-year-old man who suffers from acute back pain caused by disc degenerative disease and spinal stenosis. He was forced to leave his job as a portrait photographer after 26 years due to his debilitating back pain, which was only exacerbated by the physical requirements of his work. He applied for disability on his own and felt defeated after both his initial application and reconsideration were denied. He decided to look for help and found Desert Disability online.
After he retained our firm, we immediately filed his request for hearing and began gathering evidence. Our client got updated MRIs of his spine which we submitted to SSA, along with the rest of his medical history. Compiling our client's medical records was an important part of winning his case -- his medical history exhibited the severity of his diagnosis and was a crucial piece of evidence. Attorney Jeffrey Herman represented our client at his hearing in August 2021, and days later we received a Fully Favorable decision!
A 38-year-old woman with severe anxiety and panic attacks applied for Social Security Disability after being unable to hold down any type of job. She had been steadily seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist and trying to work various types of jobs to no avail. She was distraught when she received a denial letter from Social Security so she looked around on Google and came across our law firm.
We filed her first appeal, which was denied to nobody's surprise, and we requested a hearing with an ALJ. We were assigned one of the toughest judges in Phoenix. Fortunately, Susan had remained 100% compliant with her therapy appointments and her treatment and we were able to obtain multiple supportive medical and non-medical opinions. The weight of the evidence along with her spotty work history was enough to put her over the top and thankfully she received a Fully Favorable decision on her claim!
When Tim first contacted our office for help, he had recently received a denial letter after a hearing with a judge. He felt his former representative was ineffective and all hope was lost. He sent us copies of the Unfavorable Decision and a withdrawal letter from his prior representative. We reviewed the decision and his medical records and formulated an argument that we submitted to the Appeals Council in Virginia.
After a grueling 9-month wait, the Appeals Council sent us notice that our appeal was successful and that another hearing would be scheduled for Tim (remand) for another judicial review of his case. Desert Disability prepared his case and Mr. Herman represented Tim at his hearing. Thankfully, the second time was a charm and Tim received a Fully Favorable decision and nearly 4 years of retroactive benefits!
A 52-year-old man with a learning disability and a seizure disorder first contacted our office back in February 2020 after his application for disability had been denied. He hired us to file his appeal. We requested a hearing before a judge, requested all his medical records (even the ones that SSA neglected to obtain) and helped him win his much deserved benefits 13 months later.
A sad story but with a happy ending for a 59-year-old woman recovering from a stroke which greatly impacted her memory and fine motor functioning. Facing extreme financial hardship, she managed to keep up with seeing her doctors on a regular basis. This proved very helpful to her case as we were able to gather her records and show the judge the consistency in her medical treatment.
Desert Disability stuck by her side throughout the grueling claims process and successfully represented her at a hearing before a Chicago-based Administrative Law Judge. With her Fully Favorable decision, she is able to use her retroactive benefits of over $20,000 to pull herself out of the hole she is in and utilize her Medicare benefits to upgrade her medical care and treatment. Hooray!!
A 57-year-old lady who worked in the banking industry for years was let go from her job after exhausting all her FMLA due to frequent debilitating migraine headaches. After trying various forms of medications to treat her headaches to no avail, she finally gave up and filed for Social Security Disability benefits. She was outraged when she was denied and filed her own appeal only to be denied again. That's when she went online to look for help and found our law office in September 2020. We immediately filed a Request for a Hearing with an Administrative Law Judge, gathered all her medical records and some statements from her family and friends, and successfully guided her through her hearing to a Fully Favorable decision!
We had the honor to represent a 35-year-old man suffering from severe PTSD and crippling social anxiety following a harrowing tenure in the army which included multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. After struggling with denial, he finally surrendered and sought out psychiatric help and support. He also applied for his disability benefits only to be denied by Social Security.
When he contacted our office in May of 2020, we took the time to listen to his issues with being able to work and laid out a game plan to prepare his case for battle at the hearing level. We were so ecstatic to receive a Fully Favorable decision in his case and thankful that Social Security came through.
A 43-year-old woman who had sustained a spinal injury following a motor vehicle accident in 2015 received a Fully Favorable decision on her case. Over the years her conditions progressed, the pain became too great, and she found that she could no longer work. She contacted our firm in March of 2020 after she received her initial denial letter. We strategically helped her throughout the process by providing her with guidance and counsel on how to best strengthen her case while we relieved her of the stress of handling her appeal with SSA. We took her case to a hearing before a Judge and after enduring weeks of suspense waiting for the Judge's written decision, we are thrilled to announce that she received a Fully Favorable decision!
In our very first hearing in the new year, we represented a distinguished and decorated 52-year-old veteran of the U.S. Marines. He first contacted Desert Disability in April 2020 after his Disability Benefits had been recently denied by Social Security Administration. We filed his appeal and requested a hearing with a Judge, which was held telephonically with a Judge from the Tucson hearings office. We prepared his case for his hearing by gathering an excellent RFC from one of his doctors and a supportive witness statement from his spouse. As we stuck by him through this journey, we are proud to announce he received his Fully Favorable Decision later the same month!
In August 2020, we were retained on short notice by a 57-year-old woman with a heart condition, some nerve damage in the lower back, and depression/anxiety. She became unable to sit for extended periods at her job as a bookkeeper.
We helped her build a strong case for disability by helping her obtain a supportive medical opinion and she was approved for disability benefits in December 2020 after we successfully represented her at her telephonic hearing in November before Judge Barnes-Williams out of Kansas City.
A 64-year-old gentleman with partial paralysis in his arm and a total knee replacement who retained us in June 2019. We helped gather his medical records, a statement from a former co-worker, an opinion from his doctor, and we successfully represented him at his hearing before Honorable Judge Armbruster in October 2020.
Following his Fully Favorable decision, he received a lump sum award, monthly disability benefits, and immediate access to Medicare as a result of his SSDI claim approval.
Disclaimer: While the stories above are 100% real, the photos depicted are not actual client photos.
Please note that prior results do not guarantee a successful outcome.
A woman retained our firm in March 2022 after learning she had an inoperable brain tumor. In order to accelerate her claim based on urgent medical necessity, we filed her initial application, along with a "Compassionate Allowance."
While we typically work with clients remotely, via email or telephone, our client asked if she could come to our Scottsdale office to receive help filling out the SSA paperwork. We welcomed the opportunity to help in whatever way she needed. We scheduled several meetings for her to meet with her paralegal and Mr. Herman, the attorney. Our entire staff worked together to ensure her claim was processed quickly and accurately, and our hard work paid off — she was approved just 1 month after filing! This was the quickest approval our firm has ever had!
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