More Is Better

I represent a 49 year old carpet layer whose application for disability benefits was approved without a hearing only a month after I submitted an on-the-record (“OTR”) request for a fully favorable decision. As a result, the claimant’s attorney fee was lower, and he will start receiving his benefits without having to wait two years for a hearing, which was critical because he was in desperate need of money.

In general, experience has shown that there is a directly proportional relationship between the number of supporting opinions from treating doctors and the chances of succeeding with an OTR. This case was no different.

Besides submitting medical records from seven medical sources that supplied objective clinical findings and diagnostic evidence, I submitted functionality assessments from three different specialists, a physiatrist, arthritis specialist and neurologist. Each physician opined the claimant was unable to do sedentary work. If only one functionality opinion had been submitted it is unlikely that the OTR would have been approved.