Disability Law

RSS Link

The Social Security Administration (SSA) warned last week that Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce federal spending may result in “significant workforce reductions” across the agency, which is responsible for processing some 2 million benefit applications per year.  

This comes at a time when the SSA is already short-staffed and dealing with extensive backlog. Indeed, once an individual has submitted their application for social security disability benefits (SSDI), it takes 6 to 8 months to…
Continue Reading Will Cuts to the Social Security Administration Impact my Private Long Term Disability Benefits?  

If you are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or both, it often takes a significant amount of time to get approved. However, once you are approved, you may receive not only ongoing monthly payments but also a lump-sum award for the months—or even years—during which you were disabled and should have been receiving benefits. 
Exactly how much you might receive in back benefits depends on when you applied, when your disability began, and…
Continue Reading How Much Can I Receive in Social Security Back Benefits?

A Medicare Set-Aside Agreement (“MSA”) is an agreement that allocates a portion of the funds obtained through the settlement of a worker’s compensation claim for deposit into a bank account or annuity in order to fund the future treatment of a workplace injury. In order to protect the interests of Medicare, an injured worker who has settled their claim, is enrolled in or has applied for Medicare, and has been compensated for future treatment as part of a settlement,…
Continue Reading What is a Medicare Set-Aside Agreement

 For most ERISA long-term disability (LTD) cases that proceed to court, the case is decided on a closed administrative record in which the judge can only review the information contained in the insurer’s claim file as of the date it rendered its final decision. In other words, no new evidence can be introduced during the course of the lawsuit. This also means that the judge will not have the opportunity to meet you, ask questions of you, or hear…
Continue Reading How Using Photos in Your LTD Case Can Strengthen Your Claim 

An insurance company’s goal is to make money, which naturally means the number one goal, besides selling insurance policies, is to deny insurance claims. However, if a claimant has a strong case with no plausible reason to deny, insurance companies will sometimes initially approve a claim. This means one of their best tools to cut off claims is surveillance.  
Why do long-term disability insurance companies conduct surveillance? 
If medical records support that a claimant can’t work, an insurance…
Continue Reading I Think My Long-Term Disability Company is Surveilling Me – What Do I Do?

What is constructive discharge and why is it important? 
 Constructive discharge is a legal theory that allows employees to establish an adverse employment action even when they quit their job.  
 This is important because an “adverse employment action” is an essential element of most employment lawsuits. Adverse employment actions are actions taken by an employer which materially change the terms and conditions of an employee’s work life, and do so in a way that places the employee in a…
Continue Reading Can You Sue Your Employer For Wrongful Termination Even If You Quit Your Job? This Legal Theory Says “Maybe.” 

Dentists’ claims for short-and long-term disability (STD and LTD, respectively) benefits are often among the most complex and difficult claims to get (and keep) approved, and also to successfully navigate appeals and lawsuits when they get denied. This article discusses why these types of claims are so difficult, and provides information about what dentists specifically should keep in mind when they are purchasing STD/LTD policies,  applying for STD/LTD benefits, or facing a denial thereof.  
If the topics discussed in…
Continue Reading When Navigating Your Short/Long-term Disability Insurance Claim Feels Like Pulling Teeth: The Particular Considerations And Obstacles Facing Dentists Who Apply For STD/LTD Disability Benefits.

Hawks Quindel, S.C. is proud to announce that 12 of our Attorneys have received awards for their hard work and dedication in 2024!

    • Larry Johnson
    • Bill Parsons
      • Super Lawyers: 2014-2024
      • Super Lawyers Rising Stars: 2010-2013
      • Super Lawyers Top 25 Lawyers in Madison: 2017, 2018
      • The Best Lawyers in America® 2023: Litigation – ERISA
      • The Best Lawyers in America® 2019
    • David Zoeller
      • Super Lawyers: 2017-2024
      • Super Lawyers Rising Stars: 2012-2016

…
Continue Reading 2024 Attorney Awards

The Social Security Administration (SSA) treats SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) benefits and SSI (Supplemental Security Income) benefits differently. If you receive SSDI benefits, the SSA generally won’t reduce your benefits even if you receive income from other sources, provided you are not performing work in exchange for that income. For example, if you receive income from a private pension or retirement account, it will not reduce your SSDI benefits. However, the rules for SSI are different.  
 
In…
Continue Reading Understanding When Social Security Reduces Supplementary Security Income Benefits: Part 2 

As discussed in the opening post of this series, Social Security Disability applications undergo a five-step evaluation to determine benefit eligibility. This post focuses on Step 1 of that process. After the non-medical requirement screening is complete, the first question Social Security considers is whether the applicant is performing “substantial gainful activity.”  
What is Substantial Gainful Activity? 
Substantial Gainful Activity, or “SGA,” is a monthly wage amount that Social Security considers to be an earnings threshold for disability…
Continue Reading What is Social Security Looking for Anyway? The Sequential Evaluation Process – Step 1 

For the past several years, Wisconsin has ranked near the top of the country for racial disparity in nearly every category related to the juvenile justice system.1

State and national trends also support that there is a particular group of youth of color that are uniquely susceptible to involvement in the juvenile justice system: those who have a disability. Nationally, children with disabilities are removed from school and referred to and involved in the juvenile justice system at…
Continue Reading Interrupting the School to Prison Pipeline at the Intersection of Race and Disability

Many organizations, including hospitals and other health care organizations, are embracing peer support networks to tackle the extreme levels of burnout being felt by many employees in the workplace. Employees can get trained or certified as Mental Health Fist Aid responders to serve as a peer support person. When done right, peer support can be very helpful to the mental well-being of employees. See e.g., https://www.mhanational.org/peer-workforce and https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2165079919873934.

However, inserting a peer support program into a workplace wellness…
Continue Reading Is Your Mental Health Peer Support Program ADA-Compliant?

As people grow older, they tend to become more vulnerable to a wide range of physical injuries. Falls are one of the most common causes of injuries among elderly adults. Unfortunately, fall injuries can often be attributed to nursing home neglect or abuse. For family members of nursing home patients, it is crucial to understand when and how fall injuries can occur due to abuse or neglect. Some common issues that can lead to falls in nursing homes include:…
Continue Reading Fall Injuries Can Occur Because of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse

The safety of individuals with disabilities that are not immediately apparent may be at risk during encounters with law enforcement and first responders.

To reduce these safety risks, a person may now voluntarily designate a nonapparent disability on a driver’s license, identification (ID) card, and vehicle registration. This way, individuals can be discreetly identified with a medically verified cognitive, mental, neurological, or physical disability.

The goal, according to the Invisible Disabilities Association, is to help alert law enforcement…
Continue Reading Tip of the Month: Disclosing Invisible Disabilities on IDs Can Increase Safety

One of the many things I have appreciated about becoming an attorney is working with people who care deeply about the clients they serve and the work they do.

It is a great honor to watch attorneys meet with clients, listen, and do their best to make clients feel comfortable. That includes working with disabled clients, who are often dealing with substantial barriers, ableism, and disrespect.

However, even though lawyers are making strides in accommodating individual clients, our systemic…
Continue Reading Accessible Content Broadens Your Client Base and Improves the Way You Work

There has been a trend recently in the state of Wisconsin, and elsewhere, for attorneys to file lawsuits against hotel owners alleging that their websites are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because they are not accessible to disabled individuals. Specifically, the complaints allege that the hotel websites are in violation of the ADA because they fail to identify accessibility features, do not allow for booking of accessible rooms, and do not provide sufficient information regarding…
Continue Reading Is Your Hotel Website in Compliance with the ADA?