by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
One highly specialized committee of the Jacksonville Bar Association is the Social Security Law Section. Co-chaired by attorneys Erik Berger and Tracy Miller, the main focus of the section is to secure benefits for its clients.
“We [as Social Security lawyers] assist individuals who are unable to perform any work on a regular and continuous basis,” said Erik Berger of the Law Office of Erik Berger.
Benefits for the disabled fall into two general categories. The federal government can award benefits based on how much a worker has paid into the Social Security system. The second type of benefit is called Supplemental Security Income, basically federal disability welfare. This could be available to individuals who have never worked or have worked but didn’t put enough into the system. Also, disabled children that meet certain criteria could be eligible.
“One of the main things we [the co-chairs] do is to meet with the chief administrative law judge at the Jacksonville hearing office to foster relationships between attorneys and the hearing office to get cases heard and moved along,” explained Berger.
“About two years ago, the backlog of cases in the Jacksonville hearing office was 2,000. Our biggest concern as a committee is to getting hearings scheduled as quickly as possible. A file could be sitting in the hearing office anywhere from 12 to 18 months. This is after they’ve probably already gone through six to eight months of the process. It’s horrible to have to tell people they need to wait another year for the hearing when they’ve been out of work for two years already.”
Members of the 16 person section meet monthly to exchange ideas on legal and practical issues regarding their area of practice, specifically, how to most effectively represent their clients. Currently, the Social Security Law Section is planning a CLE seminar in conjunction with other related sections, possibly the elder law or workers’ compensation law section. The seminar is not just for those within these fields; it would be open to all JBA members.
“I think that there are a lot of attorneys who have clients that may not be aware that the Social Security disability area exists,” said Berger. “They may have clients that are eligible for benefits.”
Activities for Social Security Section members include opportunities to interact and share thoughts on the profession. According to Berger, Social Security lawyers tend to be sole practitioners and don’t engage in adversarial roles like litigators.
“There’s not the excitement of a trial practice but I don’t have to put up with all the fighting between attorneys over discovery,” he said. “That’s why I do this. In addition to being sole practitioners, we don’t practice with or against each other, so we’re isolated.
“To members of the committee, the biggest value is to be able to learn from each other.”