Disability Law
Social Security Disability, done right — from first application to federal court.SSDI & SSI · 42 U.S.C. § 423 · 20 C.F.R. pts. 404 & 416
Representation in Social Security Disability claims — SSDI and SSI — serving Louisiana and Mississippi. Social Security is federal law, and the firm practices it the same way on both sides of the state line: with the preparation every claim deserves.
Most claims are denied at first. The case is built on appeal.
Here is the truth about Social Security Disability that no one tells you at the field office: most claims are denied at the initial application. A denial is not the end of the case — for many claimants it is where the case actually begins. But the road forward is procedural and unforgiving: each stage of appeal — reconsideration, the hearing request, the Appeals Council — generally carries a 60-day deadline, and missing one can send you back to the start of the line, or end the claim entirely.
Disability cases are usually won at the hearing, in front of an administrative law judge, on a record of well-developed medical evidence — treatment notes, objective findings, and opinions from your own doctors that speak to what you can and cannot do. Building that record does not happen by accident. It is deliberate work, and it starts long before the hearing date.
Attorney Stephen “Curt” Aertker, Jr. is licensed in both Louisiana and Mississippi. Because Social Security Disability is a creature of federal law, the claim works the same way in Slidell as it does in Picayune — and the firm handles claims on both sides of the state line, through the administrative process and into federal district court when the agency gets it wrong.
And you work directly with Stephen throughout. Your calls are returned, you always know where your claim stands, and the attorney at your hearing is the one who prepared the file. Your lawyer — not a case number.
From the first application to the courthouse.
Aertker Legal represents disability claimants across Louisiana and Mississippi — through every administrative stage before the Social Security Administration, and in the U.S. District Courts when judicial review is the next step.
Initial Applications
The strongest appeal is the one you never need.Getting the application right the first time
Many denials are self-inflicted — an application filed with the wrong onset date, an insured-status problem no one caught, or a medical history listed from memory instead of from the records. The firm prepares applications the way it prepares cases:
- Choosing the alleged onset date deliberately — it drives back benefits and, for SSDI, must fall within your insured period
- Verifying insured status (the “date last insured”) before the application is filed, not after
- Complete medical sourcing — every treating provider, clinic, and hospitalization identified so the agency has the whole record from day one
- SSDI, SSI, or both — sorting out which program fits your work history and circumstances
Denials & Appeals
A denial letter is not a verdict. It is a deadline.Generally 60 days at each stage
If your claim was denied, you are in the company of most applicants — and you have a decision to make quickly. Each appeal stage generally carries a 60-day window: reconsideration after the initial denial, a hearing request after reconsideration, and review by the Appeals Council after an unfavorable hearing decision. The firm handles each step with the next one in mind — updating the medical evidence, correcting the record, and framing the issues so that the file is built for the win by the time it reaches the stage where cases are won.
Already denied once, or twice? The appeal deadlines make this a call-now situation, not a wait-and-see one.
ALJ Hearings
The hearing is where disability cases are decided.Administrative law judge · vocational expert
The hearing before an administrative law judge is the heart of most disability cases — the one stage where a human being looks at the whole record and listens to you. Preparation is everything:
- Pre-hearing briefs that frame the medical evidence and the legal theory before the judge takes the bench
- Testimony preparation — so you can describe your limitations accurately and completely, without underselling or overselling them
- Cross-examination of the vocational expert — the witness whose job-numbers testimony often decides the case, and whose hypotheticals must be tested, not accepted
- Updated medical records and treating-source opinions submitted on the agency’s timelines
Federal Court Review
When the agency gets it wrong, the next stop is a federal judge.42 U.S.C. § 405(g)
The administrative process is not the last word. When the Appeals Council denies review or issues an unfavorable decision, a claimant may file suit in U.S. District Court, where a federal judge examines whether the agency’s decision is supported by substantial evidence and free of legal error. Stephen is admitted in the federal district courts across Louisiana and Mississippi and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — so the firm can carry a meritorious claim past the agency when that is what it takes.
Benefits Protection
Winning benefits is half the job. Keeping them is the other half.CDRs · cessation · overpayments
Benefits, once awarded, are not untouchable. The agency conducts continuing disability reviews, sometimes stops benefits it later turns out were properly paid, and sends overpayment letters demanding money back. These matters run on some of the shortest clocks in the system — certain response windows, including the election to keep benefits paying while an appeal is decided, can be as short as 10 days. The firm handles:
- Continuing disability reviews (CDRs) and medical-improvement disputes
- Stopped or ceased benefits — appeals and benefit-continuation elections
- Overpayment defense — appeal of the overpayment itself, waiver requests, and repayment arrangements
Workers’ Comp Coordination
A workers’ comp settlement can quietly shrink a disability check.The WC/SSDI offset
Many disabled workers have both a workers’ compensation claim and a Social Security Disability claim — and the two interact. Federal law imposes an offset: combined workers’ comp and SSDI benefits above a set portion of your prior earnings reduce the SSDI payment. The good news is that a workers’ comp settlement drafted with the right amortization language can lawfully minimize that offset — and a settlement drafted without it can cost a claimant part of the monthly check for years.
Because the firm also handles Louisiana workers’ compensation matters alongside its injury practice, it coordinates the two claims as one strategy — the settlement wording on the comp side protecting the benefits on the Social Security side.
No upfront attorney fee. Paid only if you win.
In most Social Security Disability cases, the attorney fee is set by federal law: a percentage of the past-due benefits awarded to you, capped by regulation, and subject to the agency’s approval. If there is no award, there is no attorney fee. For standard claims there is no upfront attorney fee — representation costs nothing out of pocket while the claim is pending, and the fee structure is explained in writing before the firm is hired.
What claimants ask first.
How long does this take? Longer than it should. Initial decisions commonly take months; a hearing can add a year or more of waiting, depending on the hearing office’s backlog. That is exactly why the file should be built correctly from the start — so the wait ends in a decision, not another round.
What does “disabled” mean to Social Security? Something narrower than most people expect. It is not whether you can do your old job — it is whether your medical conditions prevent you from doing substantial work of any kind, and whether they have lasted or are expected to last at least 12 months (or result in death). The agency applies a five-step analysis, and the medical record has to answer each step.
Should I keep seeing my doctor? Yes — without exception. The medical record is the case. Gaps in treatment read to the agency like gaps in the disability. Keep your appointments, follow the treatment plan, and tell your providers about every symptom and limitation, not just the worst one.
My benefits were stopped. What now? Act immediately. The deadlines after a cessation notice are short — and the window to elect that benefits continue during your appeal is shorter still, as little as 10 days. The sooner the firm sees the notice, the more options remain open.
I got an overpayment letter. Do I just have to pay it? Not necessarily. You may be able to appeal the overpayment determination itself, request a waiver if the overpayment was not your fault and repayment would be a hardship, or negotiate a payment plan that fits your circumstances. The wrong move is ignoring the letter.
The deadlines in a disability case do not wait. Neither should you.
Confidential consultation · SSDI & SSI · Louisiana & Mississippi
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