Your Minneapolis Social Security Disability Lawyer
ARE YOU FRUSTRATED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S REFUSAL TO APPROVE YOUR CLAIM?
You can't work. Maybe you've been injured. Maybe you're sick. Or both. Perhaps you can't pay the mortgage because you've lost your income, or you've lost your health insurance. You're becoming more depressed and anxious by the day. You feel overwhelmed. You feel you're entitled to Social Security disability benefits. You've paid into the Social Security system for many years, but the government isn't cooperating. You applied for Social Security disability and waited several months for a decision, and then Social Security turned you down. It's unfair. It's unbelievably frustrating and very stressful. What do you do? Where do you turn?
You could contact a large Social Security law firm that spends thousands of dollars on high-profile advertising. Such a firm accepts virtually all cases but may treat its clients as more of a number than a name. Once you sign a fee agreement with such a firm, your personal contact with an attorney may cease until perhaps one hour before you attend a hearing before a Social Security judge. The development of your claim will be handled by non-attorneys. Your questions will be answered by staff members. You may telephone the firm with a question or problem and not even receive a return call.
You do have an alternative. You can contact the law firm of Andrew Kline (established in 1981). You will initially discuss your case over the telephone with Mr. Kline personally. If Mr. Kline considers your claim meritorious, you will sign a fee agreement and other necessary Social Security documents at a personal meeting at Mr. Kline's office. While your claim is pending, if you have a problem or question or concern, you will speak to Mr. Kline directly, not to a staff member. You will personally meet with Mr. Kline for approximately two hours prior to a hearing before a Social Security judge. At that time the hearing process will be carefully explained to you, and all your questions and concerns will be addressed. Following such a hearing, a decision will be issued (hopefully favorable), but your problems may unfortunately continue. The Social Security Administration may not process your claim properly and may not pay you the correct amount of benefits that you are due. Or months or even years later, a different type of problem could develop. Throughout this time, from your first telephone contact with Mr. Kline and continuing for as long as it takes to protect your interests, Mr. Kline will be at your side, fighting for your rights and the benefits to which you are entitled. Finally, because Mr. Kline worked as an attorney for the Social Security Administration prior to entering private practice, he is thoroughly familiar with the Social Security disability bureaucracy and can utilize such knowledge to your benefit.
WHO ARE ANDREW KLINE'S CLIENTS?
The law practice of Andrew Kline is primarily limited to the resolution of SSI and Social Security disability issues. If you suffer from severe physical impairments, mental impairments, or a combination of impairments that preclude you from working, it is imperative that you contact a knowledgeable Social Security disability attorney, such as Mr. Kline, to determine if you have a meritorious disability claim that may be pursued before the Social Security Administration.
Mr. Kline also provides consultative legal services to workers' compensation attorneys regarding the complicated interaction between State of Minnesota workers' compensation benefits and Social Security disability benefits. Only a handful of attorneys in the State of Minnesota specialize in this area.
HOW ARE ATTORNEY FEES PAID?
The law firm of Andrew Kline generally operates on a contingent fee basis. In other words, if Social Security does not approve your claim, neither you nor Mr. Kline will be paid. If your claim is approved at one of the administrative levels of the Social Security disability process, Mr. Kline's fee will be one-fourth (25%) of past-due benefits but in no case can exceed $5,300 under the Social Security Act. In other words, if your past-due benefits are computed to be $12,000, Mr. Kline would receive $3,000, and you would receive the balance of $9,000. However, if your past-due benefits are computed to be $24,000, Mr. Kline would receive $5,300, not $6,000, and the balance of $18,700 would be paid to you.
In summary, while Mr. Kline obviously cannot cure your disabling medical conditions, he can ease your financial burden by securing the SSI or Social Security disability benefits to which you are legally entitled.
