Why should you get an attorney for disability in Illinois?   Most individuals will benefit from the involvement of a disability attorney on a Social Security Disability or SSI claim at the disability hearing level. Statistically, the odds simply go up for a claimant who has representation. Why is this. Due to several reasons: 1. A disability representative in Illinois (and this can be an attorney or a non-attorney) will generally do a better job of gathering medical evidence than an unrepresented claimant. This is especially true when it comes to obtaining residual functional capacity forms from treating physicians, which can be crucial to winning a claim at a hearing before an administrative law judge. 2. A disability attorney will know the definition and importance of concepts such as compliance, alleged onset, established onset, date last insured, and so forth. 3. A disability attorney will be familiar with both the impairment listing manual (the book that contains disability approval criteria for a number of different impairments) and with the disability criteria needed to achieve a medical vocational allowance (an approval for disability made on the basis of a claimant's inability to perform their past work or to do some type of other work). When should you get an attorney for disability? If you get denied on a reconsideration, you will probably serve yourself well by looking for representation. However, some individuals will benefit from attorney involvement at the very start of a claim. And sometimes consulting with a rep prior to filing a claim can be helpful as well. About the Author: Tim Moore is a former Social Security Disability Examiner in North Carolina, has been interviewed by the NY Times and the LA Times on the disability system, and is an Accredited Disability Representative (ADR) in North Carolina. 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