Social Security is not your friend - Wolf & Brown Law Offices

By Michael J. Brown, Esq. †

This Social Security Administration spends a great deal of time and effort trying to convince disabled claimants that they can be trusted with their claim. My recent court experience suggests otherwise.

My client was a 61-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and who underwent a partial mastectomy along with Chemo and Radiation treatment. Fortunately, her doctors were successful in excising all evidence of cancer. However, because of the chemotherapy my client developed neuropathy on the left side of her body. Neuropathy is a generalized feeling of numbness, and it prevented her from walking effectively or using her arm effectively.

My client was English speaking but had limited education and her past work experience was as a housekeeper. However, she last performed this type of work 14 years prior to the date of the hearing. The law stated that because of her age, education, and past work experience, if Social Security determined she could do medium work (standing for 6 hours out of an 8-hour workday and lifting a maximum of 50 pounds 1/3 of the workday) she was disabled. The law also stated that if my client was only able to perform sedentary work (sitting for 6 hours out of an 8-hour workday, standing for 2 hours out of an 8-hour workday, and lifting a maximum of 10 pounds 1/3 of the workday) she was disabled. The law stated that if my client could only do a sit-down job, she was disabled! So why was I in court? The Social Security Administration, at the initial level, and again at the Reconsideration level, determine my client’s cancer and neuropathy was “not severe” and was expected to get better in one (1) year. They therefore; denied her case at the initial and reconsideration level.

We drew a good Judge on this case who, while she follows the law, is also empathetic to disabled claimants. However, because the Social Security Administration closely reviews every allowance an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) makes in a case, the Judge had to put my client through a two (2) hour hearing to ensure her decision allowing a 61-year-old cancer patient would not have been reversed or remanded by the Appeals Council. The moral of the story;

Claimants can no longer trust the Social Security Administration to “do the right thing” in any given case. When I wrote disability decisions for Social Security, the allowance rate was 47% in the State of New Jersey*. The initial allowance rate today for the State of New Jersey is approximately 34% according to Social Security statistics. The reconsideration denial rate is at approximately 95%. The overall allowance rate by the Office of Adjudication and Review (ODAR) in Pennsauken is 51%. The disabilities haven’t changed and the claimants haven’t changed. What has appeared to have changed is Social Security’s view on the allowance rate for disabled citizens. They are not your friend.

*My personal allowance when I wrote decision for Social Security was 53% with no administrative reversals for legal or factual error. I was able to do this because I read the file and applied the law accordingly.

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As a partner at Wolf & Brown Law Offices, Attorney Michael J. Brown was passionate about providing his clients with expert representation and fighting for the benefits they deserve. Before Mr. Brown passed away in 2025, after a 30+ year career in disability law, he offered his valuable perspective on engaging with the Social Security Administration and navigating the often adversarial benefits claims process. Much of Mr. Brown’s advice can be applied to veterans facing similar challenges with the VA.