There are many reasons why your application for Social Security disability benefits is denied, one of which is that the administration are of the opinion that there is other work that you are capable of doing. Should this happen you will want to request a hearing. During the hearing there will be a vocational expert present, if this person agrees with the administration your claim will be denied again.
Before you go into a hearing with an administrative law judge and a vocational expert you should hire a Social Security lawyer in Westland to counsel and guide you. To win your hearing you will have to counter the opinion of the vocational expert who believes that the skills you possess can be transferred to another job.
There are tips that can help you use your prior work experience to rule out tasks suggested as possibilities by the vocational expert.
Detail your past employment:
Make sure the judge and vocational expert are fully aware of your past work experience. It may be possible to challenge the assertion that you can do similar work that requires the skills you learned in the past but to do so you must prove that the skills you have are very different from what the expert believes.
Do not glamorize your past jobs:
Do not use a job title for work you have done in the past that might, by title alone, suggest that your responsibilities were more than what they actually were. Do not call yourself a manager for example if your past jobs did not entail supervision of others. It is far easier to suggest that there are jobs that you can do when your past work was supervisory, the greater your skills the easier it is for the vocational expert to point to other work you can do.
Medical limitations:
Your skills may not be transferable if the impairment you suffer from is a requirement for another job. You may have skills that were needed to fill your old position but the same skills cannot be transferred. If, for example, you are a secretary and your disability stems from repetitive stress syndrome and you are offered a job that includes filing the disability will negate your being able to do the work even though you have the skill to do it.
When you know that you will be examined by a vocational expert it will be very much to your advantage to have a Social Security lawyer in Westland who knows how to cross-examine the expert without harming your case.
