The decision to hire an attorney for any reason is not one to be taken lightly. When most people consider hiring an attorney they try to balance quality and quantity – as in how much is this going to cost?
Disability attorneys, including the attorneys at Greeman Toomey Law Office, work on a contingency basis. The attorneys at Greeman Toomey do NOT charge up-front payment and no monthly installment payments for services. A contingency fee means that the client does not pay a fee unless that client receives either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
Unlike many other types of contingency cases, Social Security disability representation fees are regulated by the Social Security Administration. As of June 22, 2009 a disability attorney may only collect 25 percent of past due Social Security benefits (back pay) or a total of $6,000, whichever is less.
When a claimant is awarded Social Security disability benefits the Social Security Administration agrees to a date which the claimant became disabled. This requires Social Security to pay monthly benefits going back to the disability date, which many times can be several months or even years in the past for SSDI and the initial application date for SSI. The representation fees come out of the past-due benefits. No fee is charge on the claimant’s ongoing monthly Social Security payments.
Because representation fees are based on a percentage of the back pay owed to Social Security disability recipients, the fee amount is not impacted by when representation started or how long someone is represented by a Social Security disability law office.
For more information about how representations fees are regulated by the Social Security Administration visit: http://www.ssa.gov/representation/overview.htm.
