[blindlaw] meeting with clients

[Kathleen Hagen]

Definitely that will be one of my main arguments.
Kathy Hagen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "albert griffith" <albertpgriffith at hotmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2007 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] meeting with clients


> It seems as if it would be against equity and fair conscience to collect
> overpayments from this guy.  He didn't know he wasn't supposed to be
> receiving benefits, did he?  You don't have to respond, just a thought.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Kathleen Hagen
> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2007 8:14 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] meeting with clients
>
> Hello,  At present that creates somewhat of a problem for me as I am
> handling many overpayment social security cases.  They are labor intensive
> and usually quite large.  What I'm having to do, and it might change if 
> the
> office says it costs too much money, is use a reader/assistant to go 
> through
> the file with me, separate it into relevant documents I'm going to need, 
> go
> with me to Social Security office to review files on occasion, help me
> organize information for clients when filling out overpayment waivers.  My
> secretary provides releases for clients to sign.  I take braille notes and
> discuss what will happen with my clients, write the memoranda, and mostly
> try to calm down the clients.  You see, what makes these cases so hard is
> that the agency usually doesn't catch up with someone for five or six 
> years,
> by which time they can owe up to $70,000 or higher in overpayments.  I 
> even
> have one case right now where a client had worked out a plan to pay back 
> the
> overpayment, including using his credit card.  He had to file bankruptcy
> because his credit balance was so high.  Then, SSA just recently contacted
> him and told him that he should never have received SSDI at all, so now 
> owes
> another $26,000.  Needless to say, he's hysterical.  That's really the
> hardest part.  Finding resources for clients to help them get back on 
> track.
>
> It's a little like helping someone filing for bankruptcy.  And I 
> definitely
> need to use a reader to help with the paperwork.
> Okay, so that was a long and rambling answer.  I usually have my
> reader/assistant go with me to court or administrative hearings.  Right 
> now
> I'm very lucky, although my reader is not, because she's unemployed and 
> can
> pretty much be at my beck and call until she gets another job.  If my 
> reader
> can't go, i ask one of the clerks working in our office, if it's in the
> summer, to go along.  After all they get the experience of seeing 
> meetings,
> courtroom pleadings, or even mediations.  You will probably find other 
> blind
> people on list who are much more organized than I am.  I also will eagerly
> await what others say.
> Oh, and in recent years I don't have to use a reader much for research as
> West Law is pretty usable on line.  That's also great because when I'm
> quoting a case and citing, I can cut and paste right on the computer.
>
> Kathy Hagen
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Craig Spencer" <craigspencer2.0 at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2007 3:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] meeting with clients
>
>
>> Hi every one:
>>
>> I was just wondering how do members of this group efficiently handle
>> meeting
>> with clients and taking a record of what took place in the meeting i.e
>> note
>> taking/recording....
>>
>> At what point do you utilize your support staff?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks Craig
>>
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>
>
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