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When a disabling condition prevents you from earning a living, Social Security disability benefits can provide the financial lifeline that keeps your household afloat during an impossibly difficult period. Regrettably, the bureaucratic maze created by the Social Security Administration (SSA) overwhelms countless deserving applicants who are already struggling with medical challenges and mounting bills.
At Gordon, Wolf & Carney, we bring more than 25 years of focused experience helping clients complete applications and challenge unfavorable decisions to obtain Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
The SSA rejects 67 percent of all disability claims, and statistics demonstrate that representation by legal counsel dramatically improves approval rates. Don’t delay in partnering with a knowledgeable Gaithersburg Social Security Disability lawyer at our firm to pursue the benefits you have rightfully earned.
Why Trust Gordon, Wolf & Carney to Handle Your Social Security Disability Case?
Gordon, Wolf & Carney brings more than a century of combined legal experience to Social Security disability cases, along with a deep understanding of the medical, legal, and procedural issues that can determine whether a claim succeeds or fails. Our attorneys take a hands-on, personalized approach to every case, giving clients direct access to their lawyers and clear guidance at every stage of the SSDI or SSI process.
What is the Difference Between SSDI and SSI?
The Social Security Administration operates two distinct disability programs that serve different populations based on work history and financial circumstances. While both programs require medical proof of a qualifying disability, they differ significantly in their eligibility criteria, funding sources, and benefit calculations.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is an insurance program funded by payroll taxes that workers and employers contribute during employment. Eligibility depends on accumulating sufficient work credits through jobs covered by Social Security, and benefit amounts are calculated based on your lifetime earnings record.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a need-based program funded by general tax revenues rather than Social Security taxes. Eligibility requires demonstrating both a qualifying disability and limited income and resources below strict federal thresholds.
The program assists disabled individuals who never accumulated enough work credits for SSDI, including those who never worked, young adults with disabilities, and low-income seniors. SSI provides a standard federal payment amount that some states may supplement.
How Does the SSA Define Disability?
The Social Security Administration applies a highly rigorous standard when evaluating whether an applicant meets the legal definition of disability under federal law. The SSA requires proof that your impairment eliminates your capacity to maintain employment at meaningful wage levels. To establish disability status, you must demonstrate that:
- Your medical condition prevents you from performing work that generates earnings at the substantial gainful activity (SGA).
- Your medical condition eliminates your ability to perform the duties of your previous occupation or to adapt to alternative employment.
- Your disabling condition persists for a minimum of 12 consecutive months, or medical evidence establishes that the impairment will continue for at least one year, or the condition is expected to result in death.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements for Disability Benefits?
Beyond meeting the medical definition of disability, applicants must satisfy additional program-specific requirements that vary between SSDI and SSI. SSDI applicants need an adequate work history with recent employment covered by Social Security taxes.
SSI applicants must demonstrate financial need through limited income and assets. Our Gaithersburg Social Security Disability lawyer team evaluates your complete circumstances to determine which program you qualify for and helps you meet all applicable eligibility criteria. Basic requirements for disability benefits include:
- Maintained employment in positions where you and your employer paid Social Security taxes, accumulating sufficient work credits to qualify for SSDI coverage.
- A medically determinable physical or mental impairment that satisfies the SSA’s stringent disability standard as defined in 20 CFR § 404.1505 for SSDI and 20 CFR § 416.905 for SSI.
Listing of Impairments
The Social Security Administration publishes a comprehensive document, the Listing of Impairments (commonly known as the Blue Book), that identifies medical conditions that automatically qualify as disabilities when specific severity criteria are met. Each listing includes detailed requirements regarding symptoms, test results, treatment history, and functional limitations that must be present in your medical records.
Meeting or exceeding a listed impairment streamlines the approval process because the SSA has already determined that conditions at these severity levels prevent substantial gainful activity. Major categories in the Listing of Impairments include:
- Cardiovascular conditions
- Digestive system disorders
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Special senses and speech impairments
- Respiratory illnesses
- Genitourinary impairments
- Hematological disorders
- Skin disorders
- Endocrine disorders
- Congenital disorders
- Neurological conditions
- Mental disorders
- Cancer affecting any body system
- Immune system disorders
How Does the SSA Determine if You Have a Qualifying Disability?
The Social Security Administration evaluates every disability application through a five-step sequential evaluation process that examines your work activity, medical severity, ability to return to past work, and capacity to adjust to other employment. Our Gaithersburg Social Security disability lawyers walk you through each stage of the evaluation, ensuring your application addresses all relevant factors and presents compelling evidence at every decision point.
Ability to Engage in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)
At the first step, the SSA determines whether you currently work at SGA levels, defined as earning $1,690 or more per month in 2026 for non-blind individuals. If your earnings exceed these thresholds, the SSA typically denies your claim immediately without evaluating your medical condition.
However, the agency may disregard certain work attempts during trial work periods or consider special circumstances that explain why your earnings don’t reflect an ability to maintain employment long-term.
Severity of Your Medical Condition
Step two examines whether your impairment significantly limits your ability to perform basic work activities, including walking, standing, sitting, lifting, carrying, remembering, understanding instructions, and interacting appropriately with others. The SSA applies a “de minimis” standard at this step, meaning your condition must produce more than minimal functional limitations. Severe impairments restrict your physical or mental abilities in ways that interfere with work-related activities.
Condition Meets or Equals a Blue Book Listing
The third step compares your medical evidence to the specific criteria outlined in the Listing of Impairments. If your condition matches or medically equals a listed impairment, the SSA approves your claim without proceeding to the remaining steps. Our disability lawyers collaborate with your treating physicians to document how your symptoms satisfy listing-level severity.
Ability to Perform Previous Work
When your impairment doesn’t meet a listing, step four analyzes whether you retain the residual functional capacity to return to work you performed during the previous 15 years. The SSA considers the physical and mental demands of your past relevant work and determines whether your current limitations prevent you from performing those job duties as you actually did them or as they are generally performed in the national economy.
Ability to Adjust to Another Type of Work
At the final step, the SSA evaluates whether you can adapt to alternative employment that exists in significant numbers nationally, considering your residual functional capacity, age, education, and transferable skills. Vocational experts often testify about specific jobs that match your limitations. Our attorneys aggressively challenge vocational opinions that overlook the full extent of your restrictions or cite jobs that don’t actually exist in adequate numbers.
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Free ConsultationCommon Reasons for Disability Claim Denials
The Social Security Administration denies most initial applications, often for reasons that can be avoided with proper legal guidance. Our SSDI attorneys identify potential weaknesses in your case before filing and address deficiencies that may have led to prior denials. Common reasons for denial include:
Insufficient Medical Evidence
The SSA cannot approve claims without adequate objective medical documentation supporting your alleged limitations. Your medical records must include diagnostic test results, clinical findings, treatment notes, and the physician’s opinions on your functional restrictions.
Failure to Follow Prescribed Treatment
When you don’t comply with recommended medical treatment without a valid reason, the SSA may conclude that your condition will improve with proper care. You must either follow prescribed therapy or provide compelling explanations for why you cannot, such as inability to afford treatment, religious beliefs, or medical contraindications.
Pre-Existing Conditions
The SSA sometimes incorrectly denies claims by asserting that you had the disabling condition before meeting insurance requirements. Our lawyers gather evidence establishing when your impairment actually became disabling and demonstrate that you satisfied work credit requirements before that date.
Incomplete Application
Missing information, unsigned forms, or inadequate descriptions of how your condition affects daily activities lead to denials. We ensure every section of your application thoroughly documents your limitations and provides all information the SSA needs to properly evaluate your claim.
Previous Denials
The SSA maintains records of prior denials and may give these determinations inappropriate weight in evaluating new applications. We distinguish current claims from previous denials by highlighting changed circumstances, worsening conditions, or new evidence that wasn’t available during earlier proceedings.
Too Much Earnings
Working while applying for disability benefits creates suspicion that you can perform substantial gainful activity. Our attorneys explain work incentive programs, clarify permitted work attempts, and document why limited earnings do not demonstrate an ability to maintain competitive employment.
Missing Deadlines
Failing to file appeals within the strict 60-day deadline from receiving a denial notice results in losing your appeal rights and requiring a new application. Our disability attorneys ensure you never miss critical deadlines that can jeopardize your benefits.
Condition Fails to Meet Criteria
Sometimes your impairment doesn’t satisfy the SSA’s strict disability standard because the evidence shows you retain capacity for some level of work activity. We honestly assess whether your condition meets disability criteria and advise you about the realistic prospects for approval.
Navigating the Appeals Process
When the Social Security Administration denies your disability claim, you have the right to challenge that decision through a multi-level appeals process that offers several opportunities to overturn the unfavorable determination. Most successful disability claimants win benefits only after appealing an initial denial, making the appeals process the most critical phase of pursuing disability benefits.
Our attorneys represent clients at every level of appeal and understand the specific strategies that work best at each stage. Each level of appeal has strict filing deadlines, and missing these timeframes forces you to start over with a new application, losing months of retroactive benefits.
Reconsideration
Reconsideration represents the first appeals level and involves having a different SSA examiner review your complete file, along with any new evidence you submit. The reconsideration reviewer was not involved in the initial denial and theoretically examines your case with fresh eyes. However, approval rates at this level remain disappointingly low.
Having an experienced Gaithersburg Social Security Disability lawyer strengthens reconsideration appeals by obtaining updated medical evidence, securing detailed opinions from your treating physicians, and submitting legal arguments that address the specific reasons given for the initial denial. We ensure the SSA has complete medical records and that no critical evidence was overlooked during the initial review.
Hearing by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
Requesting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge offers your best opportunity to win disability benefits after a denial. ALJ hearings provide a less formal setting where you can testify about your limitations, present witness testimony from family or former employers, and have your attorney question medical and vocational experts.
The judge can ask questions directly and evaluate your credibility, which can be advantageous when medical records alone do not fully reflect the severity of your limitations. Our attorneys thoroughly prepare you for your hearing through mock interviews that familiarize you with the types of questions judges typically ask and guide you in clearly explaining how your condition affects your daily activities and work capacity.
We review your testimony beforehand, discuss potential problem areas in your case, and develop strategies for addressing weaknesses the judge might identify. At the hearing itself, we present opening statements, question witnesses and experts, make legal objections when appropriate, and deliver closing arguments that tie your evidence together into a compelling narrative supporting your disability claim.
Our representation ensures the judge understands the full extent of your limitations and properly applies the law to your circumstances.
Review by the Appeals Council
When an Administrative Law Judge denies your claim, you can request review by the Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council in Baltimore. The Appeals Council selectively grants review requests, typically accepting cases only when:
- The judge made a legal error
- The judge overlooked necessary evidence
- The judge reached a decision contrary to SSA policy or federal law
Most review requests are denied, leaving the ALJ’s decision as the SSA’s final determination. Our attorneys submit detailed briefs that identify specific errors in the ALJ’s decision and explain why the case warrants the Appeals Council’s intervention. We also supplement the record with any new and material evidence that has become available since your hearing.
Federal District Court
After the Appeals Council denies review or issues an unfavorable decision, you can file a civil action in a federal district court challenging the SSA’s final decision. Federal court litigation requires demonstrating that the Administrative Law Judge’s findings were not supported by substantial evidence or that the judge applied incorrect legal standards.
We are award-winning trial lawyers with powerful litigation skills and extensive experience handling Social Security disability appeals in federal court. Our disability lawyers:
- Draft comprehensive complaints.
- File motions for summary judgment.
- Respond to the government’s legal arguments.
- Appear in court to advocate for remand of your case back to the SSA for proper evaluation.
Get in Touch With Our Gaithersburg Social Security Disability Attorneys
Gordon, Wolf & Carney has spent decades fighting for the rights of disabled workers who paid into the Social Security system and now need the benefits they earned. We are proficient in SSA regulations and the requirements for claim approval.
We handle all disability cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing upfront and owe no attorney fees unless we successfully obtain benefits for you. Our fee comes from a percentage of your past-due benefits, capped by federal law, so you never face the risk of paying legal bills you cannot afford.
Don’t let another day pass without taking the first step toward obtaining the financial support that can stabilize your household during your disability. Contact us today or complete our online form to schedule your free consultation with an experienced Gaithersburg Social Security Disability lawyer who will evaluate your case, explain your legal options, and begin developing a strategy to secure the disability benefits you are entitled to.
