Unlike many attorneys a Hattiesburg MS disability attorney does not charge a client a retainer or any fees when they accept the case. The majority of disability attorneys work on contingency which simply means that they do not get paid at all in the event they fail to win the case for the client.
When you know you have a disability that will stop you from working you will want to hire a disability lawyer to help you make the claim regardless of whether you are eligible for SSDI or SSI. The first thing you will be asked to do is to sign an agreement which allows the Social Security Administration to pay the legal fee in the event your claim is approved. These contingency fee agreements are reviewed by the SSA to ensure the attorney gets the fee they are entitled to.
Unlike other attorneys a Hattiesburg MS disability attorney is limited in the amount of fee they can charge a client. Currently the fee is pegged at 25 percent of the past due benefits that are awarded with a cap of $6,000. The attorney’s fee is only applicable to the past due amount, if no back-dated benefits are granted then the attorney will not receive a fee.
Rarely will you be asked to pay any money when you hire the disability attorney, eventually the attorneys fee will be paid from the back pay awarded. You might be asked to put up a small amount when you first hire the attorney, this money will be used to cover costs.
Normally you will not have to actually pay the attorneys fee yourself, based on the initial agreement that you entered into the SSA will take the fee up to the $6,000 limit from your first disability check and then send you a check for the balance of the awarded back pay.
Once the SSA has reviewed the application along with all the supporting documents they can either approve or deny the application. In the event the application is approved the amount of back pay is calculated. The back pay includes any monies due back to the date when the Administration decided your disability began up to a maximum of one year from the date of the initial application.
As the fees are set by the Social Security Administration the Hattiesburg MS disability attorney will get 25 percent of the back pay but not in excess of $6,000. If the back pay was calculated to be $15,000 the attorney will get $3,750, the remaining $11,250 will go to you.
With the legal fee being set by law it makes little sense to apply for disability benefits without the help of a Hattiesburg MS disability attorney. Contact them for more information.
