I‘m pleased to report that I recently passed the specialization exam for Social Security Disability Law. This means I am certified as a specialist in Social Security Disability Law by the North Carolina State Bar. Which is a good thing!
Here’s a press release:
Winston-Salem attorney J. Kevin Morton was recently certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in Social Security Disability Law. He is one of 41 lawyers state-wide to achieve this distinction. Mr. Morton concentrates his legal practice in representing claimants for Social Security disability benefits; he also litigates appeals of these claims in the U.S. District Courts in North Carolina and in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He received his BA degree in religion from Davidson College and his JD degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a member of the Disability Advocacy Section of the NC Advocates for Justice. He is also a sustaining member of the National Organization for Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR).
The North Carolina State Bar certifies lawyers as specialists in designated practice areas as a service to the public. The program assists members of the public in the selection of legal counsel by identifying lawyers who have demonstrated special knowledge, skill, and proficiency in certain areas of law. The program also gives lawyers a credible way of making their expertise known to the public and other lawyers.
To be certified as a specialist in a practice area, a lawyer must have been in practice for at least five years, devote a significant part of his or her practice to the specialty area, attend continuing legal education (CLE) seminars in the specialty, be favorably evaluated by other lawyers and judges (peer review), and pass a written examination in the specialty practice area.
In today’s Federal Register, SSA requests emergency clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a new 1699 form to register appointed representatives of disability claimants. The notice explains:
By registering these individuals, SSA: (1) Authenticates and authorizes them to do business with us; (2) allows them access to our records for the claimants they represent; (3) facilitates direct payment of authorized fees to appointed representatives; and (4) collects the information we will need to meet Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements to issue specific IRS forms if we pay these representatives in excess of a specific amount ($600).
Although SSA currently uses a lengthier OMB-approved version of this form, we are requesting emergency clearance for an abbreviated version due to extensive comments from respondents indicating they need a simpler version immediately.
Commissioner of Social Security Michael Astrue announced yesterday that the Social Security Administration has awarded over 17 million dollars (funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) in contracts to 15 health care providers and networks to provide electronic medical records to SSA during the disability review process:
“Using health information technology will improve our disability programs and provide better service to the public,” Commissioner Astrue said. “We’ve seen a significant increase in disability applications. To process them, the agency sends more than 15 million requests annually for medical records to healthcare providers. This largely paper-bound workload is generally the most time-consuming part of the disability decision process. The use of health IT will dramatically improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this process, reducing the cost of making a disability decision for both the medical community and the American taxpayer.”
Commissioner Michael Astrue wrote a short article discussing fast tracking cases involving schizophrenia and other diseases:
Our Compassionate Allowances and Quick Disability Determinations processes are making a real difference by ensuring that Americans with devastating disabilities quickly receive the benefits they need. This fiscal year, we expect to fast-track about 150,000 cases and we plan to add more diseases and impairments to these expedited processes in the coming months.
For claimants with certain kinds of impairments, fast tracking will mean favorable decisions in very short time frames.
