Posted: 9/28/2007

Bob Valer of Groom Law Group represented a claimant who filed an application for social security disability benefits in 2002, claiming that she had been disabled since 1997 due to a rare disease.  Initially, the claimant tried to represent herself and, because she was unable to work, she exhausted all of her financial resources, including her savings for retirement.  The Social Security Administration (SSA) denied her claim.  She appealed, but before her appeal could be heard, the SSA lost her file, including all the medical evidence.  Groom Law Group agreed to represent her in October 2004.  The claimant died the next month.  Groom then agreed to represent her surviving spouse.  After a 2½ year struggle with problems caused by the lost file and procedural issues, Groom briefed the case on appeal, and the Administrative Law Judge decided the case in the claimant's favor on all issues.  The claimant was awarded favorable compensation.