Firm News
In a typical Arizona Social Security hearing, an administrative law judge (ALJ) will have a vocational expert present in the hearing room. It is required that the ALJ provide the Social Security claimant with written notice that a vocational expert will be present. A vocational expert is a professional witness whose job is to analyze…
Recently, the legislature in Tennessee considered allowing large employers to “opt- out” of the state workers’ compensation system. Opting out means essentially that larger employers like Wal‑Mart, for example, can essentially set up their own workers’ compensation systems that are outside the state system. This gives larger employers cost savings, but it also short changes…
The answer to this question is “yes”. Based on a case from 1990 called Burton v. Industrial Commission, Arizona injured workers can tape record Independent Medical Examiners. Arizona injured workers are required from time to time to be examined by Independent Medical Examiners, which are typically doctors hand-chosen by insurance carriers to assess the injured worker’s…
Discovery is the initial part of the legal process in an Arizona workers’ compensation case. Initially, a request for hearing will be filed by either the injured worker or the insurance carrier. Once that happens, deadlines will go into effect and the parties will serve interrogatories on one another. Interrogatories are questions that one party…
To be found disabled, a person must have a severe physical and mental impairment, and that must preclude them from not being able to do their previous work, and it must preclude them from engaging in any other kind of gainful work which is available in the national economy. In analyzing this situation, judges at…
When an Arizona injured worker attorney requests a hearing at the Industrial Commission of Arizona, within 2 to 3 months a hearing is usually set. An Administrative Law Judge is assigned to the file and the hearing is scheduled. The first hearing is usually for the testimony of only the injured worker. Sometimes nonmedical witnesses…
If you are like the majority of the people who have applied for Social Security Disability (SSDI) in Arizona, you were denied at least twice and are on your way to a hearing in front of an administrative law judge (ALJ). There is essentially a five step process in the hearing to decipher whether the…
We normally talk about strictly legal issues and subjects in our blog here at the Fendon Law Firm website. However, today I wanted to share with the public why I love being a workers’ compensation lawyer here in Arizona. At the Fendon Law Firm, when an extraordinary event occurs such as a favorable decision on…
Many people ask us whether they have to pay taxes on Social Security disability benefits. We typically refer them to their accountant or CPA to answer this question. However, in reality, Social Security disability benefits are taxable to the extent that a person’s income exceeds $25,000 per year with the benefit. That is in the…
Most claimants that have gone through the Social Security Disability procedure realize that it is a very lengthy process. In Arizona, it can take at least two years from date of application until a claimant obtains a hearing. Typically, the disabled person will then have to wait even longer after the hearing to get a…