I made a run at applying for SSDI without an attorney and got declined on both initial application…read moreand appeal, but when I read the finding summary from the judge it was like he never even read my diagnoses. It's really hard to understand what it is they are asking for. For that reason, I would recommend an attorney because it seemed it was just a matter of jumping through the right paperwork hoops, and that will take someone who has experience. Otherwise you're fumbling around in the dark. I was also homeless and very ill at the time. I'm tech savvy - but everything is so antiquated and being done by USPS paper copy with 10 day turnarounds for medical documentation. That's next to impossible even in the best of circumstances, but wait times are up to 6 months for some doctors now, so that's untenable. The SSDI application in America is set up to exclude people in their worst hour, and it's a moral travesty.
For my second application, I mostly knew what I had to do from learning the first time around, but to be safe I got an attorney. Honestly, I wish I hadn't. Jacob Reitan was incredibly condescending and rude and would barely stay on the phone for more than 30 seconds to answer my questions. It seemed that his priority was not to represent me or answer my questions clearly but to sound like he was overwhelmed with other clients and that I should consider myself lucky to even get a call with him. He was up to 40 minutes late for return calls I had scheduled with his assistant and sometimes cancelled altogether. In the entire run of my case, I spent maybe a total of 10 minutes on the phone with him, 5 of which devolved into a shouting match because I expressed how frustrated I was getting with his lack of communication on my case.
It's very clear to me that guy has anger/stress management issues.
If you're a disability attorney representing someone with severe Complex PTSD, you should know enough about the diagnosis to work with a person who is fragile because they are ill. At a minimum, you should be able to maintain composure an clarity with any neurotypical baseline client. This man has neither. If he's reading this - he should take an honest look at himself, consult with the people he works with on how he is being perceived and get into therapy to deal with it. If I can do it, he can.
In the end I won my case not because I was well represented, but because I had done the heavy lifting getting together my documentation and learned from my first go-around. He spoke maybe 2 sentences total during the judicial hearing. I think I won because of my thorough documentation and a fair judge.
