Legal Question in Social Security Law in Pennsylvania

Re: filing of a claim for social security in federal court

You can call the clerk of the court where your action was filed, and ask for a copy of the docket sheet for your case.

Re: filing of a claim for social security in federal court

It does take time but your attorney has an obligation to keep you informed. Call him again and insist on information. Call or go to the court to see if your case is on the docket.

Re: filing of a claim for social security in federal court

Your question does not indicate what stage you are at. If this is for a Hearing on an initial claim, it sometimes takes two years before you get the Hearing. If it is an appeal of a denial after a Hearing and he or she filed an Appeal with the Appeals Council, the same thing applies. It sometimes takes two years to get the Appeals Council decision. I don't know of any way to check on the Appeals Council decision but the Office of Hearings and Appeals is the place to check if you are waiting for the first Hearing.

This is different if you are appealing to the U.S. District Court from a denial after a Hearing or after an Appeals Council denial. They are generally a lot quicker but for a lot of years now, most attorneys will just have the claimant re-file at the initial level if the person is disabled. That is because the U.S. District Court rarely reverses a decision after Hearing and is more likely to remand or send the case back to the Administrative Law Judge.

Just a hint, and this may not apply to you: when you call your attorney realize that every minute that you keep him or her on the telephone is a minute that he or she does not have available to work on your case. Attorneys will sometimes duck the calls of people that tend to keep them on the telephone for a half an hour or so every time they talk to that particular client. In some Social Security disability cases, the client is so caught up with their disability that they feel they have to run through their complaints with the attorney every time they talk to him or her and the attorney is not the one you need to convince of your disability, it is the Administrative Law Judge.