Balin attorneys use "congressional interest" to aid clients

While the federal government offers multiple programs for disability compensation, bureaucracy can be a challenging obstacle to overcome when awaiting a decision on a case. In these situations, any time a constituent feels like they’re getting a raw deal, they can contact their congressperson and have a pending case marked as one of “congressional interest.”

When a case is flagged with “congressional interest,” three things happen:

1.       The Social Security Administration (SSA) must give high priority to inquiries received from members of Congress and their staff.

2.       The SSA must respond to congressional inquiries promptly, accurately and courteously.

3.       The SSA must communicate any concern about a particular congressional inquiry to the congressperson.

“The local SSA field offices have to report to their bosses every 60 days to show how the inquiry is being addressed,” said Matt Shupe, associate attorney at Balin Law. “If such reports aren’t made or if they have a surplus of these inquiries from a certain region, the SSA is able to follow up with those regions to ensure proper care is provided for applicants.”

Balin has had positive experiences in the past with congressional interest, noting that the SSA has responded promptly to the requests they filed.

“I just had a case we won at the federal court level,” said Shupe, who was waiting between four and six months for even a single document to change hands between the court and the SSA. “We contacted Representative Jim Renacci and asked the case be looked into to make sure it gets remanded as expediently as possible, which it did.”

Balin litigation attorney Andrew November remembers a case that was pending for four years since the filing date.

“That wasn’t unheard of,” November said of the four-year time frame. “But by flagging that case as one of congressional interest, it was nice just to get someone involved. Congresspeople represent a pool of constituents, but most people don’t ever contact their representative. It’s an option for someone to get their representative involved.”

The House of Representatives website offers a handy tool to find your congressperson by ZIP code, but we've compiled a list below for all our office locations.

Mentor/Ashtabula
Dave Joyce - 440.352.3939 (Painesville Office)

Lorain
Jim Jordan - 419.999.6455 (Lima Office)

Canton
Jim Renacci - 440.882.6779 (Parma Office)

Toledo
Marcy Kaptur - 419.259.7500 (Lorain Office)

Cleveland/Akron
Marcia Fudge - 216.522.4900 (Cleveland Office)

Youngstown
Tim Ryan - 330.740.0193 (Youngstown Office)


 

Balin meets challenges facing disabled veterans head-on

Following the May resignation of Erik Shinseki, former head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, some wondered how such a broken health care system that left thousands of veterans in the dust could even be repaired.

Answers may take time to find, but the flaws in the VA are more apparent than ever.

“We see delays at every point of the appeals process right now for veterans applying for service-connected disability,” said Matt Shupe, associate attorney at Balin Law. This compensation program provides a tax free monetary benefit paid to veterans with disabilities that are the result of a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active military service.

Compensation may also be paid for post-service disabilities that are considered related or secondary to disabilities occurring in service and for disabilities presumed to be related to circumstances of military service, even though they may arise after service.

The primary difficulty representing veterans for Balin is the backlog of cases before the Department of Veterans Affairs. With already longstanding delays faced by veterans claiming service-connected disabilities, the culmination of two major and recent conflicts is only adding to the wait time every veteran and their representative must face.

“There’s an enormous backlog,” Shupe said. “It’s very overwhelming to them as it is to all our clients.”

When a veteran approaches Balin Law for assistance, they have already waited for a determination on their claim and have been denied. This is because attorneys are prohibited from receiving a fee for representing veterans in service-disconnected disability compensation cases until the veteran has been denied at least once. As a result, veterans must often navigate an extremely complex field of law without the assistance of a licensed attorney for months or years.

Balin Law uses every tool at its disposal and exhausts every resource to ensure the veteran is in the best position possible when the time comes to have their case adjudicated.

“The key is to over-prepare for everything,” Shupe said of Balin’s winning strategy. “Spend more time than it takes. You need to know the case better than the client, the judge and, any expert combined. If you can convey that that is your level of knowledge, it builds confidence in yourself and in the client, too.”