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SSDI Attorney malpractive

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JPFlorida

Junior Member
Hi,

I have a situation that is, in my opinion, really complex. In a nut shell: My wife applied for Social Security Disability sometime around 2002. As is usual she was denied and had applied for an appeal. That too was denied. We secured an attorney to help with the appeal before a SS judge. We went before the judge and my wife was denied yet again. The attorney's office decided to file an appeal with the federal courts. While we were waiting for the federal appeal my wife's health declined further so our focus was on that. Eventually we called the attorney's office for an update on her case only to be informed that the attorney was no longer with that office and in fact had become a judge. The employee at the office (not an attorney) that was handling my wife's case had retired as well. The attorneys that had taken over the practice knew nothing about my wife's situation or case. Once we informed them they (the new attorney's) looked into her case. Not long after that we received a phone call from the old attorney (now a judge) to have a meeting. The judge told us that before he took the judgeship the employee that was handling my wife's case had indicated he was going to retire when the attorney left the practice. Later the judge found out that the employee had been stealing client information in order to work from home when he left the practice. As a result he was not replying to the federal courts requests for additional information. The judge told us that we could not sue the employee but would have to sue him instead since he was responsible for the actions of the employee. The new practice has informed us that my wife is no longer eligible for any sort of social security disability since her date of last insured was far too long ago. The judge has admitted a total of six times that it is his fault that her case was tossed out of the federal courts. He has said that she wouldn't have had much of a chance anyhow but I pointed out that due to their mishandling he has assured her a zero percent chance. The judge told me to call the bar association, which I had already done. They said they had no jurisdiction since he was a judge. I told them that this had happen before he became a judge, but that did not matter. They shuffled me off to some sort of judiciary commission which informed me that, in a nutshell, they couldn't do anything.

I've tried to find an attorney to help with this situation but none seem interested. My wife's physical condition has deteriorated severely since her original application and there is no way she can work now. Does anyone have any real help they can offer???? Thanks!

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
This does not rise to the legal standard of malpractice. Was his admission IN WRITING? You do not have much of a case since the denial may have occurred whether he was there to defend it and you have no way to prove how you have been financially or medically harmed. Move on with your life and forget about this as there will be no one willing to take this case on.
 

JPFlorida

Junior Member
This does not rise to the legal standard of malpractice. Was his admission IN WRITING? You do not have much of a case since the denial may have occurred whether he was there to defend it and you have no way to prove how you have been financially or medically harmed. Move on with your life and forget about this as there will be no one willing to take this case on.
Are you answering this from an opinion or from a legal standpoint. If we had a written statement would that make a difference? Also, we have no choice but to move on. So if we had a small chance of the case being overturned but due to the inaction (through neglect of requests for more information) they assured that we would have no chance. It seems that people who do not know the legal system are at the mercy of those that do and when we secure and attorney to help us navigate that system and we get screwed we are being told that we should move on with our life.... that's pretty ethical.
 

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