Social Security News

The American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) has dropped its longstanding opposition to cuts in Social Security benefits. An article in the Wall Street Journal noted that the decision was not made easily. But the Board of Directors believed that cuts would be made and AARP wanted to be at the table when that happened.

The U.S. Congress is taking the Social Security backlog seriously. On April 27, it held a joint hearing between the (U.S. Congress) House Social Security Subcommittee and the (U.S. Congress) House Ways and Means Committee on Income Security and Family Support. The hearing was set only a week after the House Social Security Subcommittee elected its new chairman, Early Pomeroy.

The hearing will address the backlog in pending applications for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). There was been a lot of news about the unprecedented backlog in Social Security hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (the second state of the appeals process). The Congressional hearing will discuss a newly emerging backlog in initial disability applications. The Social Security Administration projects that disability claims will increase by nearly 29 percent from FY 2008 to 2010, and are not expected to drop significantly until after 2012. It further estimates that by the end of fiscal year 2010, more than 1 million people in the U.S. will be awaiting a decision on their initial disability applications.

DURHAM, North Carolina (November 19, 2009) Rick W. Fleming, head of the Social Security Disability Department at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, is co-chair and speaker for the “Social Security 2009.” The event, to be held at the Downtown Marriott in Winston-Salem, is sponsored by the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. It will be held on Dec. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Fleming, vice chair for the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, will be presenting “View from the Vocational Expert’s Chair” at 1:30 p.m., in conjunction with Julie Sawyer-Little, a vocational expert from Fuquay-Varina, NC. This session pairs Sawyer-Little, an expert witness on vocational issues, with Rick Fleming, a  North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Social Security Disability Law. The pair will discuss “best practices” for attorneys when cross-examining vocational experts, and provide advice on the most effective ways attorneys can advocate for clients who have challenging vocational issues.

As one of three program chairs, Fleming will also be providing welcoming remarks to the conference.

Fleming joined the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin in 2002 and became a shareholder in 2008. Certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a Board Certified Specialist in Social Security Disability Law, Fleming concentrates his practice on people who have been injured at work or have suffered a catastrophic physical and economic loss.