All medical records and correspondence related to your disability.  And we mean all – but only if you have it all.  We’ll go over them when we sit down with you, point out the positives and negatives relevant to your disability pension application, Article 78 Proceeding, or Appeal, and answer any questions you may have about them and how they may affect the outcome of your case. 

If you are not a “records person,” and do not have all of your records or don’t know if you have them all because they are disorganized, that is not a reason to postpone your disability pension consultation with one of our disability pension lawyers.  While we are much better able to help and advise you if we have all of the information relevant to your disability pension claim, time is never your friend in disability pension matters, so… meeting sooner, with some of your records, is wiser than meeting later with all of your records. 

Delays in getting started do far more damage than incomplete records or imperfect recollection as, once certain deadlines are missed, the damage can be irreversible. 
 

Your spouse, partner or significant other.  Why?  First, because they’re anxious about your disability pension too, and having more information is not only calming but empowering. 

Second, because having them there means not having to repeat everything you learn in a 1-3 hour (yes, it happens) initial disability pension consultation with a disability pension attorney.  Last, but certainly not least, because they will ALWAYS remember details you’ve forgotten.  No one remembers everything perfectly.  Some are particularly bad with dates and details.  In our experience however, and with remarkable regularity, people choose life mates who somehow compensate for this, and they frequently provide us with useful details that can make all the difference in the outcome of your case. 
 

An open mind.  Our successful pension clients, with rare exceptions, have typically been told that their Disability Pension matter (whether at the application or litigation stage) is “hopeless,” “has no chance,” or “will definitely be denied” by no fewer than 5 people (including co-workers, several union reps, and at least one lawyer) by the time we first sit down with them for a consultation.   In some cases, where some avoidable (but irreversible) mistake was made at an earlier stage, this is true.  Not every case can be won, and we do have to turn down prospective clients for that reason more often than we would like.

Far more often, however, because of relevant facts or arguments that your well-meaning advisors (including lawyers offering pension services) have failed to take the time to uncover, their advice is not just wrong, but dead wrong.  Laws affecting disability pension rights change – new laws get passed and old laws get amended.  Court decisions that change the ways those laws are interpreted and enforced, and even the way the facts of your case are viewed, are handed down by the judiciary every week.  The medical community itself also routinely changes its opinion as to whether certain medical conditions are disabling, and as to whether those conditions could have been caused by traumatic events.

Because of these constantly changing variables, even cases that would likely have been unwinnable two months ago can suddenly become viable, with the winning argument surfacing at the very last moment.  The point is, making a decision about whether to pursue your disability pension benefits without first having your case reviewed by a highly experienced pension lawyer, one who is intimately familiar with all of the recent changes affecting your rights, may result in your walking away from a winning case, and in the loss of life-changing benefits for you and your family.

We are aware of no other law firm which offers our length of experience in, and focused dedication to, disability pension law and, again, your consultation is FREE, whether it takes one hour or three hours.  You are under no obligation to retain us and will not be pressured in any way.  We are usually (there are exceptions) able to determine whether we can accept your case by the end of your initial consultation. 

Either way, we will give you our unvarnished opinion as to the strengths and weaknesses of your case and will offer you information and advice based upon long experience in disability pension matters, spanning from the mid 1970’s to the cutting edge, present day.   Base your decision on whether to pursue your disability pension benefits on the most reliable, up to date advice and information you can.  Call us NOW for your FREE consultation, at 516.775.9400 or email us at FreeConsult@pensions.law.