Disability Benefits Lawyers

A medical condition can change how much you can work and whether employment can still provide reliable financial support. Social Security disability benefits may provide monthly payments for people who meet the federal requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income.

Getting benefits requires more than a diagnosis. The Social Security Administration applies federal rules to medical evidence, work activity, functional limitations, and other parts of a disability claim. SSDI also requires sufficient qualifying work history, while SSI applies separate income and resource requirements.

Our disability benefits lawyers represent Social Security claimants nationwide. We handle claims from the initial application through Administrative Law Judge hearings, Appeals Council review, and federal court. Our team has represented thousands of claimants and brings extensive experience with disability hearings. This includes appearances before hundreds of Administrative Law Judges.

Call Key Disability at (800) 975-1866 or fill out our online form to discuss your Social Security disability claim. Our legal team can review where your claim stands and explain the next stage of the Social Security disability process.

The Social Security Administration administers two federal programs that provide benefits based on disability: Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. The Social Security Administration’s disability evaluation guidance confirms that Title II SSDI claims and adult Title XVI SSI disability claims use the same general federal definition of disability. Their nonmedical eligibility requirements differ.

Social Security Disability Insurance, commonly called SSDI, provides monthly benefits to qualifying workers with a disability and enough work history under Social Security. Workers earn credits through wages or self-employment income covered by Social Security. The number of credits needed depends on the worker’s age when the disability begins. SSA states that workers generally need recent work history, while younger workers may qualify with fewer credits.

Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, does not require an applicant to build an insured work record. The program provides payments to qualifying people with limited income and resources who meet age, blindness, or disability requirements. The 2026 SSI resource rules set the countable-resource limit at $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. Social Security excludes certain property and other resources from that calculation.

In 2026, the maximum SSI payment is $994 per month for a single person or $1,491 for a couple. Your payment may be less if you have other income or support.

Some people qualify for SSDI and SSI at the same time. Social Security refers to these as concurrent benefits.

Federal regulations define disability for Title II applicants and adult Title XVI applicants as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment. The impairment must be expected to result in death or must have lasted, or be expected to last, for a continuous period of at least 12 months. 20 C.F.R. Section 404.1505 governs the Title II definition, while 20 C.F.R. Section 416.905 applies the adult disability definition under Title XVI.

A diagnosis alone does not establish disability. Social Security examines whether medical evidence establishes an impairment and how that impairment affects the person’s ability to function and work.

For adult disability claims, Social Security generally uses a five-step sequential evaluation:

• Current Work Activity: SSA first looks at whether the claimant’s work rises to the level of substantial gainful activity. The 2026 SGA guideline is $1,690 per month for nonblind disability applicants. For blindness-based Title II claims, the amount is $2,830, but SSA states that this higher blind threshold does not apply to SSI.
• Severity of the Impairment: Social Security considers whether a medically determinable impairment or combination of impairments significantly limits basic work activities and satisfies the duration requirement.
• Listed Impairments: The agency evaluates whether an impairment meets or medically equals criteria in its Listing of Impairments. A claim may continue to later steps when the medical condition does not satisfy a listing.
• Past Relevant Work: Social Security assesses residual functional capacity and compares it with qualifying past work. Current SSA rules generally consider relevant work performed during the five years before the agency decides the claim. Work must also satisfy other requirements, including the rules concerning substantial gainful activity and how long the person performed the job.
• Other Work: If the claimant cannot perform past relevant work, Social Security considers whether the person can adjust to other work. The analysis uses residual functional capacity along with vocational factors such as age, education, and work experience.

Disability law covers more than just physical conditions. Mental health, developmental, intellectual, and neurocognitive conditions can also affect your ability to work. Social Security looks at things like concentration, memory, social skills, and how well you can follow instructions.

Our team brings experience with claims involving developmental disabilities and neurocognitive disorders, as well as other physical and mental conditions.

Both SSDI and SSI disability decisions depend heavily on medical evidence. Claimants must provide or identify evidence related to their impairments, while SSA can help collect records from medical sources they identify and authorize SSA to contact.

The record may include medical records, clinical findings, test results, treatment history, medications, and medical opinions. Social Security also considers evidence concerning what a person can still do despite an impairment. That can include physical abilities as well as concentration, memory, persistence, interaction, and adaptation.

At the initial level, state Disability Determination Services develop medical evidence and make disability determinations under federal standards. DDS generally seeks evidence from the claimant’s own medical sources first. If those records are unavailable or insufficient, DDS may arrange a consultative examination to obtain the information needed to decide the claim.

The amount of paperwork in a file does not decide a claim by itself. Social Security needs evidence that establishes a medically determinable impairment and allows the agency to evaluate its severity and functional effects. An incomplete evidentiary record can leave the agency without enough information to support a favorable disability determination.

Our attorneys can review the medical documentation in the record, help develop additional evidence, and prepare the claim for its current stage of review.

When you apply for Social Security disability, you will need to give detailed information about your health and work history. This includes your medical conditions, doctors, medications, and jobs you have had.

Social Security field offices generally handle the initial nonmedical review. For SSDI, that can include Social Security coverage and work-history requirements. SSI claims also require review of income, resources, and living arrangements. The field office sends qualifying claims to DDS for the disability determination.

DDS develops the medical record and applies Social Security’s disability rules. A medical or psychological consultant and a disability examiner commonly participate in the initial determination.

Information submitted during the initial claim can remain relevant if the case later reaches reconsideration or a disability hearing. Work descriptions, treatment records, reported limitations, and other evidence may become part of the record reviewed at later stages.

Key Disability represents claimants from the initial application forward. Our practice focuses on Social Security disability claims and is structured to continue with a case if further administrative review becomes necessary.

Social Security provides several levels of review after an unfavorable decision. The SSA appeals process identifies four opportunities for review: reconsideration, a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, Appeals Council review, and a civil action in federal district court. A claimant may not need every level.

Deadlines apply. A claimant who receives an unfavorable reconsideration decision generally has 60 days after receiving it to request an ALJ hearing. SSA generally presumes receipt five days after the date on the notice unless the claimant shows otherwise.

Hearing-level cases also have deadlines for submitting evidence. Under 20 C.F.R. Section 404.935, parties in Title II proceedings generally must submit written evidence or notify SSA about it at least five business days before the scheduled hearing. Certain circumstances can excuse compliance with that deadline. Title XVI proceedings have a parallel rule under 20 C.F.R. Section 416.1435.

At the hearing, an Administrative Law Judge reviews the record and asks questions about the claimant’s medical condition. The judge may also hear from medical experts or other witnesses.

A claimant who disagrees with an ALJ decision may request Appeals Council review. After the Appeals Council stage, federal district court review may become available. SSA states that a claimant generally has 60 days after an Appeals Council decision to file a civil action.

Our legal team has extensive administrative hearing experience, including appearances before hundreds of Administrative Law Judges. We also represent claims through Appeals Council review and, where appropriate, federal court.

Social Security disability claims use a federal framework. Key Disability combines its Arizona roots with broad multistate experience representing Social Security claimants.

Our attorneys have represented thousands of claimants. The team also brings extensive ALJ experience and a background handling disability claims across multiple states.

That experience includes work with physical disabilities, mental health conditions, developmental disabilities, and neurocognitive disorders. Members of the team also bring prior employee-side litigation experience involving wage-and-hour, discrimination, and wrongful-termination cases.

A disability claim can change as it moves through the Social Security system. Medical records grow, agency decisions identify disputed issues, and later stages can require a closer analysis of the evidence already in the file. Our practice is set up to work with claims from the initial application through administrative hearings and later review.

A disability benefits attorney works with both the evidence and the federal rules governing the claim. The work may differ depending on whether the case is at the initial application, reconsideration, ALJ hearing, Appeals Council, or federal court stage.

At the application stage, we help organize the information SSA needs to evaluate the claim. That includes eligibility information, medical records, work history, and evidence showing how the condition affects your ability to function. If the claim is denied, we review the decision and begin preparing for the next level of the process.

Social Security allows claimants to appoint an attorney or other qualified representative. Once properly appointed, a representative may help with the claim or appeal, review claim information, and submit evidence and other materials to SSA.

SSA also regulates representative fees for work before the agency. Under the Social Security fee-agreement process, a qualifying agreement may provide for a fee no greater than the lesser of 25 percent of past-due benefits or the applicable maximum. The current maximum is $9,200 for favorable decisions issued on or after November 30, 2024. The agreement must satisfy SSA’s other requirements before the agency approves it.

Federal court representation involves a different stage of the legal process. Judicial review focuses on agency action after the administrative process reaches the point where a civil action is permitted.

Disability law is central to our practice. Our team represents people seeking Social Security disability benefits from the beginning of a claim through later administrative and judicial review.

Our firm brings several strengths to disability representation:

• Thousands of Claimants Represented: Our attorneys have represented thousands of people seeking Social Security disability benefits. That experience spans different medical conditions and stages of the claims process.
• Extensive Hearing Experience: Our lawyers have handled disability hearings across the country and have appeared before hundreds of Administrative Law Judges.
• Representation Throughout the Process: We handle claims from initial applications through ALJ hearings and Appeals Council review. Our practice also includes federal court Social Security appeals.
• Experience With a Broad Range of Conditions: Our team has worked with claims involving physical impairments, mental health conditions, developmental disabilities, and neurocognitive disorders.
• A Legal Team Focused on Disability Claims: Our practice centers on Social Security disability representation. We work as a team as medical evidence develops and a claim moves through different levels of review.

No attorney can promise that Social Security will approve a disability claim. We can provide a team with substantial Social Security disability experience and the ability to remain involved as a claim moves through the process.

A disability claim can affect the financial support available when a medical condition prevents sustained work. The evidence and information developed during the claim can also remain relevant as the case moves through later stages of review.

Call Key Disability at (800) 975-1866 or contact us online to discuss your Social Security disability claim. Our attorneys have represented thousands of claimants, bring extensive ALJ hearing experience, and handle disability cases nationwide from initial applications through appeals and federal court.