Southwest Disability Advocates

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.No work was done, I have come to discover it is a common practice for attorneys to delay disability cases as long as possible in order to increase their fees They are paid a percentage of the clients back pay so the longer the award is delayed the more money they make My son's case required no preparationWe only got an attorney so that my son would not be at the hearing by himself This man did NO workI have asked for proof of any work performed by him but he cannot provide any at allPlease ask him to return my son's disability funds Regards, [redacted]

This is in response to the complaint of Ms [redacted] whose son I represented in his Social Security Disability case There are several misstatements and misrepresentations therein that I will address individually here: I am a Qualified Non-Attorney Representative who served SSA for thirteen years and testified in over 10,hearings as an impartial Vocational Expert Witness I later passed an examination given by SSA to become eligible to receive Direct Fee Withholding I have served as a Non-Attorney Representative for nine years I have never held myself out to be an Attorney The SSA forms signed by the Claimant indicated I am a Non-Attorney Representative I had a legitimate scheduling conflict as I had mistakenly assumed that the three hearings I had scheduled on the day of the hearing were in the same ODAR office When I realized I was mistaken, I contacted the Claimant and told him I would not be able to attend the hearing and asked him to ask the Judge for a Continuance so the case could be rescheduled I also emailed and phoned the ODAR office and faxed my correspondence into the Exhibit File so the Judge had that information available to her The Judge did not call me on the phone I received no phone call from her office I proceeded to represent the individuals in the hearings at the NPhoenix office that morning I was not in a separate courtroom, I was in a completely different ODAR office I could not be in two places at once It is not uncommon to meet the Claimant in these proceedings the day of the hearing I typically spend over an hour the night before the hearing preparing the Client for the questions that will be asked by the Judge In this instance, I told the Client to request a Continuance, which he should have done The Judge would not have proceeded with the Hearing if he had done so It is untrue that I had not done any preparatory services in this case I was ready to proceed but could not attend the Hearing as planned I had been this gentleman's Representative for several months prior to the Hearing The Judge erred by not continuing the case to a later date so I could attend I can assure you the [redacted] did not send my fee to me "by mistake" I appealed the Judge's decision not to continue the case to the [redacted] in San Francisco I relayed what had happened, and they investigated what actually took place They agreed with me that I had made every effort to communicate my inability to attend the Hearing to all the parties concerned In making their decision in this matter, they indicated that it was final and not subject to appeal I have relayed this information to Ms [redacted] to no avail

I have attempted to resolve this issue with Ms*** without success This is the first and only complaint ever made against my company to the Revdex.com Ms***'s signed a Standard Fee Agreement approving payment to me if her son prevailed in his Social Security Disability claim He won his case but she now feels her son should not have to pay for legal services rendered in his case The time spent in the Disability Hearing is very brief compared to the many hours of preparation and representation that preceed it I had a legitimate excuse in not being able to attend the hearing and relayed that to Ms***'s son and the Judge's office prior to the hearing The Judge went ahead with the hearing anyway and did not approve my Fee Agreement I appealed to the *** ** *** *** *** *** in San Francisco who thoroughly investigated the matter They decided that the Judge had erred and I was, in fact, due my fee I have continuously advised Ms*** to appeal this with Social Security through the proper channels rather than with Change.Org, Revdex.com, contacting the Attorney General, etc These matters are complicated and not easy to understand They are not as simple as related by Ms*** I am truly sorry we could not reach agreement in this matter

This is in response to the complaint of Ms. [redacted] whose son I represented in his Social Security Disability case.  There are several misstatements and misrepresentations therein that I will address individually here:1.  I am a Qualified Non-Attorney Representative who served...

SSA for thirteen years and testified in over 10,000 hearings as an impartial Vocational Expert Witness.  I later passed an examination given by SSA to become eligible to receive Direct Fee Withholding.  I have served as a Non-Attorney Representative for nine years.  I have never held myself out to be an Attorney.  The SSA forms signed by the Claimant indicated I am a Non-Attorney Representative.  2.  I had a legitimate scheduling conflict as I had mistakenly assumed that the three hearings I had scheduled on the day of the hearing were in the same ODAR office.  When I realized I was mistaken, I contacted the Claimant and told him I would not be able to attend the hearing and asked him to ask the Judge for a Continuance so the case could be rescheduled.  I also emailed and phoned the ODAR office and faxed my correspondence into the Exhibit File so the Judge had that information available to her.  The Judge did not call me on the phone.  I received no phone call from her office.  I proceeded to represent the individuals in the hearings at the N. Phoenix office that morning.  I was not in a separate courtroom, I was in a completely different ODAR office.  I could not be in two places at once. 3.  It is not uncommon to meet the Claimant in these proceedings the day of the hearing.  I typically spend over an hour the night before the hearing preparing the Client for the questions that will be asked by the Judge.  In this instance, I told the Client to request a Continuance, which he should have done.  The Judge would not have proceeded with the Hearing if he had done so.  4.  It is untrue that I had not done any preparatory services in this case.  I was ready to proceed but could not attend the Hearing as planned.  I had been this gentleman's Representative for several months prior to the Hearing.  The Judge erred by not continuing the case to a later date so I could attend.5.  I can assure you the [redacted] did not send my fee to me "by mistake".  I appealed the Judge's decision not to continue the case to the [redacted] in San Francisco.  I relayed what had happened, and they investigated what actually took place.  They agreed with me that I had made every effort to communicate my inability to attend the Hearing to all the parties concerned.  In making their decision in this matter, they indicated that it was final and not subject to appeal.  I have relayed this information to Ms. [redacted] to no avail.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.No work was done, I have come to discover it is a common practice for attorneys to delay disability cases as long as possible in order to increase their fees.  They are paid a percentage of the clients back pay so the longer the award is delayed the more money they make.  My son's case required no preparation. We only got an attorney so that my son would not be at the hearing by himself.  This man did NO work. I have asked for proof of any work performed by him but he cannot provide any at all. Please ask him to return my son's disability funds.
Regards,
[redacted]

I have attempted to resolve this issue with Ms. [redacted] without success.  This is the first and only complaint ever made against my company to the Revdex.com.  Ms. [redacted]'s signed a Standard Fee Agreement approving payment to me if her son prevailed in his Social Security Disability claim.  He won his case but she now feels her son should not have to pay for legal services rendered in his case.  The time spent in the Disability Hearing is very brief compared to the many hours of preparation and representation that preceed it.  I had a legitimate excuse in not being able to attend the hearing and relayed that to Ms. [redacted]'s son and the Judge's office prior to the hearing.  The Judge went ahead with the hearing anyway and did not approve my Fee Agreement.  I appealed to the [redacted] in San Francisco who thoroughly investigated the matter.  They decided that the Judge had erred and I was, in fact, due my fee.  I have continuously advised Ms. [redacted] to appeal this with Social Security through the proper channels rather than with Change.Org, Revdex.com, contacting the Attorney General, etc.  These matters are complicated and not easy to understand.  They are not as simple as related by Ms. [redacted].  I am truly sorry we could not reach agreement in this matter.

This is in response to the complaint of Ms. [redacted] whose son I represented in his Social Security Disability case.  There are several misstatements and misrepresentations therein that I will address individually here:1.  I am a Qualified Non-Attorney Representative who served...

SSA for thirteen years and testified in over 10,000 hearings as an impartial Vocational Expert Witness.  I later passed an examination given by SSA to become eligible to receive Direct Fee Withholding.  I have served as a Non-Attorney Representative for nine years.  I have never held myself out to be an Attorney.  The SSA forms signed by the Claimant indicated I am a Non-Attorney Representative.  2.  I had a legitimate scheduling conflict as I had mistakenly assumed that the three hearings I had scheduled on the day of the hearing were in the same ODAR office.  When I realized I was mistaken, I contacted the Claimant and told him I would not be able to attend the hearing and asked him to ask the Judge for a Continuance so the case could be rescheduled.  I also emailed and phoned the ODAR office and faxed my correspondence into the Exhibit File so the Judge had that information available to her.  The Judge did not call me on the phone.  I received no phone call from her office.  I proceeded to represent the individuals in the hearings at the N. Phoenix office that morning.  I was not in a separate courtroom, I was in a completely different ODAR office.  I could not be in two places at once. 3.  It is not uncommon to meet the Claimant in these proceedings the day of the hearing.  I typically spend over an hour the night before the hearing preparing the Client for the questions that will be asked by the Judge.  In this instance, I told the Client to request a Continuance, which he should have done.  The Judge would not have proceeded with the Hearing if he had done so.  4.  It is untrue that I had not done any preparatory services in this case.  I was ready to proceed but could not attend the Hearing as planned.  I had been this gentleman's Representative for several months prior to the Hearing.  The Judge erred by not continuing the case to a later date so I could attend.5.  I can assure you the [redacted] did not send my fee to me "by mistake".  I appealed the Judge's decision not to continue the case to the [redacted] in San Francisco.  I relayed what had happened, and they investigated what actually took place.  They agreed with me that I had made every effort to communicate my inability to attend the Hearing to all the parties concerned.  In making their decision in this matter, they indicated that it was final and not subject to appeal.  I have relayed this information to Ms. [redacted] to no avail.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.No work was done, I have come to discover it is a common practice for attorneys to delay disability cases as long as possible in order to increase their fees.  They are paid a percentage of the clients back pay so the longer the award is delayed the more money they make.  My son's case required no preparation. We only got an attorney so that my son would not be at the hearing by himself.  This man did NO work. I have asked for proof of any work performed by him but he cannot provide any at all. Please ask him to return my son's disability funds.

Regards,