Most of us have been fortunate enough to not have needed to hire an attorney for a legal matter. So hiring a social security disability attorney can be a challenge. Typical Americans may have hired a lawyer for a will, estate planning, or the probate of a will. Some perhaps have hired lawyers to deal with family law matters such as an adoption or divorce, bankruptcy or a personal injury suit.
We have a vague sense from these limited experiences that law is “local”. Our courts are organized at a state or county level. Attorneys are licensed to practice law on a state level.
Yet there are large national social security representation groups that seem to have no trouble attracting social security disability clients in Texas. Their representatives do not necessarily have to be lawyers licensed in Texas to handle claims before Social Security.
Social Security law is a unique area of legal representation
One would think – with our instinctive “bias” toward “local” legal services – that these national disability firms would be unable to attract clients. Or even that there was something illegal or unethical about Boston-based Citizens Disability representing Texas disability claimants.
Social Security law is a national, federal law, not state or county based
A lawyer does not have to be licensed in Texas to represent a Texas claimant before Social Security, provided the lawyer meets SSA’s requirements for attorney representatives. The law and regulations governing social security disability are the same in Texas as they are in any other state. In terms of the letter of the law, a New York-based Social Security disability specialist who meets those requirements is allowed to handle a Texas-based claim before SSA.
If you are looking for the steps to apply, see my guide to applying for Social Security disability benefits in Texas. Here, the question is whether hiring a local lawyer makes a practical difference.
Local representation in a Texas social security disability case by a Texas licensed lawyer is not required, but it still matters
Since the legal framework in a social security disability case is the same in the state of Texas as it is in the state of Vermont, why does it matter that you hire a Dallas-based disability attorney if you live in Dallas? Here are the reasons:
Important parts of your Texas disability case are locally based
Texas Disability Determination Services generally makes the medical disability determination at the initial and reconsideration levels, using Social Security’s federal rules. Local Social Security field offices handle applications and non-medical eligibility requirements.
Your medical treatment is local. If you live in Dallas Fort Worth, for example, you are unlikely to be receiving regular medical care from a doctor in Boston.
Social Security hearings before an Administrative Law Judge can take place in person, by telephone, by video at a Social Security office, or by online video using your own device. A hearing no longer requires everyone to be in the same room.
Sometimes being “on the ground” is key to solving a social security disability problem
Because audio or video ALJ hearings are now widely available, most national Social Security disability firms prefer not to have an in-person hearing for obvious reasons: the expense of flying an attorney down to your local hearing office. But having a live hearing in front of a local administrative law judge has its advantages, and is typically the mode of appearance preferred by local Social Security disability attorneys.
You are unlikely to meet face-to-face with a disability lawyer who is not local
In-person contact with the attorney who is handling your disability claim is vital. You are unlikely to have a chance to meet your out-of-state disability attorney if you hire one.
I limit my social security disability representation to Dallas Fort Worth, and North and East Texas – the areas handled by the two Dallas Hearing Offices and the one in Fort Worth. Knowing the particular style and expectations of the administrative law judges is very important. Now does this mean that Binder and Binder can’t do a good job on your Dallas social security disability case? Absolutely not. But I do believe that the “home field advantage” does matter.