Federal Court
Federal Court Appeals for Social Security Disability in Michigan & Ohio
You may have gotten denied when you applied for Social Security Disability, but the appeals process gives you multiple chances to make your case and win benefits that can give you peace of mind and financial stability.
The stages of appeal get increasingly difficult to navigate. The last stage, appealing your claim to Federal District Court, requires close familiarity with the process.
On this page, the Detroit disability lawyers at Levine Benjamin Law Firm give you an idea of what to expect. If you have reached the last stage of appeals, we can talk to you and direct you to an attorney who focuses on taking disability cases to federal court.
When you go to federal court with your disability claim, you are technically suing the Social Security Administration (SSA). You will file legal briefs arguing that Social Security’s denial of your benefits was legally incorrect. You don’t go to court in person.
A federal court disability appeal requires deep analysis of everything that has happened in your benefits claim so far and extensive knowledge of disability law.
These are the main possible outcomes:
- The federal judge grants you benefits.
- The federal judge denies your request.
- The federal judge sends your case back to Social Security with instructions on how to decide differently.
Levine Benjamin has helped more than 100,000 people in Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, Toledo, South Bend and across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
It’s hard to fight for life-changing benefits when you can’t work due to bad health. That’s especially true during federal court appeals.
An experienced disability attorney can help you make the most of this last opportunity to win Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
If it looks like you have the type of case that should go to federal court, Levine Benjamin can refer you to someone who will help you make your case there.
What would you like to do?
How Do Federal Court Appeals Work?
You can only sue in Federal District Court after exhausting all other options within Social Security’s system for deciding who gets disability claims.
Before you file a Social Security Disability federal court appeal, you have to go through:
Reconsideration: After getting denied on your initial application, you ask another claims examiner to evaluate your disability claim.
Disability hearing: This hearing in front of a Social Security administrative law judge gives you a chance to update your application with new information and make your case in person.
Appeals Council: If your hearing doesn’t go your way, you can ask the Appeals Council at Social Security to review the decision.
The Levine Benjamin disability lawyers help people with these steps of the disability benefits process every day.
In fact, Levine Benjamin is the top Michigan-based disability law firm in terms of how much we win in benefits for our clients—and one of the top in the country.
Only after proceeding through all of those steps can you file a lawsuit in federal court. Now you are saying, legally, that the entire Social Security process has failed you, you disagree with its results, and you want someone outside Social Security to decide.
The federal judge will weigh this disagreement.
This last part of the appeals process is about legal knowledge and identifying errors that could justify overturning Social Security’s decision.
It’s not the time to introduce new evidence, give updates on the latest turns in your health, or add health problems to the list of struggles you are facing. Federal disability appeals are strictly about how the process so far has gone wrong.
You need to make convincing arguments. Unlike earlier steps in the Social Security Disability process, you need an attorney who is licensed to practice law in federal court.
A disability attorney can study your case and build legal arguments on your behalf, giving you one more chance of winning SSDI or SSI benefits.
You have just 60 days to respond to a denial from the Appeals Council and file in federal court. Waiting too long could mean starting your disability application over.
Should I Go to Federal Court or Start a New Disability Claim?
You may think there’s no point in appealing if you’ve already been denied benefits multiple times. The rejection can be demoralizing.
It’s tempting to start over with a new disability claim or give up.
But don’t give up. Levine Benjamin disability lawyers can help you decide what to do.
- Starting over could mean waiting even longer for benefits. Yes, waiting for the court to review your case takes a long time, but so can starting a new claim.
- If you start a new application, you could lose out on back pay. When you win benefits, you receive back benefits to cover some of the long wait to be approved. A new application resets the clock.
- Major changes in your health situation take some more thought. You can’t add new medical evidence or updates in federal court. If you have sharply worse or additional health conditions that could make benefits approval much more likely, that’s when it might be worth it to drop your old claim and start a new one.
It’s tough to figure out the best path forward. How do you know if your new health problems would make a stronger claim? How do you know if it’s worth it to pursue a federal claim?
Navigating this is what Social Security Disability lawyers from Levine Benjamin help you do.
If you decide to move forward with an appeal in Federal Court, we can help you find a lawyer who will:
- Review your hearing transcript to identify legally appealable errors
- Review the Appeals Council’s decision for flaws
- Closely analyze everything in your Social Security file back to the beginning
- File legal briefs and written arguments
- Keep you aware of progress in your case
- Help you figure out if starting a new disability claim is your best move
- Represent you at a new disability hearing if the court sends you back for another one
You’re in a tough spot right now. Let the Michigan disability attorneys at Levine Benjamin Law Firm answer your questions about the appeals process and help you find help if suing in Federal Court is your best option.