OBL has Appealed Thousands of Cases

A bunch of us were in a meeting with our marketing team recently, and a question arose about whether an assertion in a post that referred to OBL having “appealed 1000s cases to federal court after a Social Security judge denied the case” was accurate. This struck someone in the meeting as potentially inaccurate/exaggerated. And it caught me by surprise at first, too.

But, the reality is, as I enter my 36th year as an attorney representing Social Security claimants (and three years before that as a non-attorney), we have represented 1000s of claimants before federal courts! It reminded me also that just five days after I was sworn into the Pennsylvania State Bar and the Federal Court Bar, I argued a case before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. And I won! (Frankenfield v. Bowen, 861 F.2d 405 (3d Cir. 1988), look it up…) I’m not suggesting that doing something a lot guarantees that someone is good at it. But it does demonstrate my determination to undo the wrongs committed every day by Social Security judges who do not follow the evidence and/or the law when denying disability benefits.

This determination shows in several ways, not least of which is our successful building of a team of excellent and committed appellate attorneys who think about nothing (at work anyway) but ways to make the most substantial arguments possible for our clients. These folks represent a very marginalized segment of our society who, for the most part, are powerless to do anything to punch back against the types of indignities they suffer. In part because, in most cases, a federal law called the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) allows unfairly denied Social Security claimants to recover the fee they must pay to hire an appellate attorney, we can financially support a critical legal practice. Without the EAJA, only a tiny percentage of our clients would be able to fight back.

The other way the value of what we do is demonstrated is in the numerous attorney and non-attorney representatives who hire us to do their appeals work when the Social Security judge denies their claim. Because Social Security appellate work is very much a niche practice with individual precedents, issues, and even sometimes unusual procedural requirements, many folks who represent claimants at hearings need more time or inclination to do appeals work, and that is how we can help. I recently confirmed that over 150 different representatives and/or law firms had entrusted this yield to us over the years (some small practices only a few times a year, some larger practices numerous times per month), and the fact that they stick with us certainly shows our commitment to excellent legal work, but also conscientious customer service of both the referring representative and the claimant. And we are incredibly grateful to be able to do something we love every day!