Dear Reader, first let me address a couple of preliminary issues. Many people have heard of Social Security disability benefits (SSD) and SSI, (which stands for Supplemental Security Income), but do not understand the difference. Social Security disability income is only available for disabled candidates who have worked a minimum amount prescribed by the law (usually 10 years) or for certain eligible survivors of deceased spouses or parents. On the other hand, SSI is not dependent on your work history, but rather on your having less than a minimum amount of income and assets for your household. As you might imagine, SSI pays less than SSD. The required level of disability for either SSD or SSI is the same. Generally speaking, benefits are available for someone who is disabled to the extent that they have a physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death, or has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. If you can do any work, even sedentary work, on a full time, sustained basis, you are considered not disabled. The Social Security administration will consider your medical records and reports, as well as other evidence you supply indicating that you are disabled. Mark

Dear Reader, that brings us to the question of whether you need a lawyer. You do not need a lawyer when you initially apply for Social Security Disability or SSI benefits. However, even applicants who have good claims often get denied when they first apply. If you are denied, then you will want to file an appeal, which must be filed within 60 days of your denial. It is a good idea to hire an attorney to file your appeal for you. When an applicant hires our law firm to handle their claim, we handle all of the paperwork necessary for the appeal, as well as compile all of the necessary medical records and request reports from the applicant’s doctors. We make sure that all of this information is properly filed with the Social Security Administration so that they have everything necessary to decide on your claim. Then, we represent the applicant at the appeal hearing, where an Administrative Law Judge from the Social Security Administration asks the applicant questions in order to determine whether they meet the requirements for benefits. If our client is again denied benefits, we appeal to the Appeals Council and then to the Federal court system. As you can imagine, once the appeals process begins after the initial denial, it is very advantageous to have a licensed, experienced attorney on your side. In addition, these claims are handled on a contingency basis. That means that the client does not pay us any money up front, there is no fee if we don’t win, and the amount of our fee is deducted only from the back award (the amount awarded from the date of the original application to the date of payment) and is a percentage specified by federal law (currently 25% of the back award, not to exceed a total fee of $5300.00). If your Social Security disability or SSI application has been denied, at any stage, feel free to call our office for a free consultation so that we can answer your questions and help you understand the process. Dan

Dear reader: Asking whether you really need a Will is kind of like asking whether you really need to have your car tuned up at the recommended times. You don’t necessarily have to make a Will or tune your car up, but it’s probably a good idea. You should understand that there are many reasons to have a Will made. First, and most obviously, it allows you to decide who gets your estate. It is only through a Will that you can make sure that your cousin Jessie gets the family quilt or that your niece gets a certain necklace of yours that she has always admired. If you die without a Will, your estate passes to certain of your relatives as outlined in the law (or to the state if you don’t have close enough living relatives). Another important issue for which a Will can be useful is the nomination of guardians for children. Keep in mind that you cannot use a Will to take away the rights of your child’s other parent. However, if you and your child’s other parent both die or if the other parent is simply not interested in custody, the courts will often look to the wishes expressed in the custodial parents’ Wills in deciding who should be the guardian of the child(ren). If you do not nominate a guardian, the courts will have to decide on their own without your guidance, and this can lead to fights between your relatives if they disagree about who should be the guardian(s). There are other things you can do in a Will, but this gives you some of the more common tools. Many people assume that having a Will prepared by a lawyer is too expensive. However, if you just want to have a Will prepared, do not want any complicated trusts included, and do not need tax planning, the cost is probably much less than you thought. So talk to a lawyer about having your Will prepared. Our office provides a free initial consultation by phone regarding your Will and we will let you know exactly how much it will cost before you are obligated to spend a penny.

Dear reader: Many college students think about law school at sometime during their undergraduate years. Many are scared away by horror stories they hear from lawyers or other law students. Personally, I didn’t think it was all that bad. Assuming that you go full time, law school takes three years. The most difficult aspect of law school, which leads to the horror stories, is time management. There is an old saying amongst law students: the first year they scare you to death, the second year they work you to death, and the third year they bore you to death. There is much truth to this. In the first year of law school the professors try to intimidate students in order to encourage them to work hard. Thus, by the second year, students are buried up to their eyeballs in work. Then, by the third year, the more intensive classes are over and you can relax a little. However, during those first two years you will have an enormous amount of reading and writing to do. I estimate that I spent anywhere from 70-90 hours a week between classes, reading, and writing. So if you want to go to law school, you must be ready to commit yourself to spend this kind of time with your nose buried in a book reading about the law. If you want to get a better idea of what it’s like, rent a copy of the old movie "The Paper Chase." Despite being made in the 70’s, it is still a very good representation of what the first year of law school is like.

Dear Reader:When you have a car accident, the car is totaled, and there is insurance available to pay you for the loss of your car, you are entitled to be paid for the fair market value of the car. Unfortunately, sometimes cars depreciate faster than people pay off the loans on them, and they are what is sometimes called "upside down" on the loan. For example, suppose your car has a market value of $5000 but you still owe $7000 on the loan for the car. In that case, you have a difference of $2000. The law requires that you be paid the value of the car, not the amount you owe on it. This can seem very unfair when someone is in an accident that is someone else’s fault and suddenly the bank is demanding that they pay the difference between the loan balance and the car’s value. On the other hand, it isn’t the bank’s fault that the accident happened and most loans provide that if the car is destroyed, the total balance of the loan must be paid upon disposal of the car. Although there isn’t much that can be done after an accident has happened, if you take out a loan for a car and there is any possibility that you will owe more than it is worth at any before the loan is paid off, you should consider purchasing gap insurance. Gap insurance is an insurance policy that pays the difference between the value of the car and the loan balance if the car is ever totaled. So in our previous example where the car was worth $5000 and the loan balance was $7000, if the person had gap insurance, it would pay the $2000 difference to the bank. Please understand that gap insurance is not automatically provided with your loan, so if you think you might need it, talk to the loan provider when making the loan. Also, if this situation has already happened, to you, check with your loan provider or insurance agent to make sure you don’t have gap insurance already.

Dear reader, if you are in an automobile accident that is someone else’s fault, and the at-fault driver has no insurance, then your uninsured motorist coverage will pay you for your claim as if it was being paid by the at-fault driver. If you are in an automobile accident that is someone else’s fault, and the at-fault driver has insurance, but does not have enough insurance to pay your entire claim, your underinsured motorist coverage, to the extent that your policy has underinsured motorist coverage included, will pay the difference between the value of your claim and the amount of insurance that the at-fault driver had. For example, suppose that you have an accident and your claim is worth $50,000. The at-fault driver has $25,000 in liability insurance and you have $100,000 in underinsured motorist coverage. The at-fault driver’s policy will pay you $25,000 and the additional $25,000 will be paid by your underinsured motorist coverage. Because many of the other drivers out there who have liability insurance only have the minimum amount of coverage required by law, it is a good idea to purchase as much underinsured motorist coverage as you can afford in case you are in an accident. Keep in mind that there are also some other complicated factors and issues involving these types of coverage and you should thoroughly discuss the coverage with your insurance agent in order to more fully understand how it applies and how much you should purchase. If you have been in an automobile accident and want to understand whether this type of coverage might apply in your situation, talk with a lawyer. Our office would be happy to provide a free consultation to help you understand these and other legal issues involved in your accident.

Dear Reader, in general, when you are injured in an automobile accident, the law currently provides that you have three years from the date of the accident in which to file a lawsuit. After three years, you lose any right to bring any claim whatsoever, forever. Because there are a few exceptions to this rule, such as regarding injuries to children or other incapacitated persons, as well as other exceptions, you should consult a local attorney to discuss the specific facts of your situation. Our office would be happy to discuss your situation with you through a free initial consultation.

Dear Reader, New York has a form of what is called "no-fault" law under which your own insurance policy pays for your medical bills and lost wages up to your limits of coverage (a minimum of $50,000 is required under law). In order to sue or make a claim against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, you must have suffered a "serious injury." New York law defines a serious injury as follows: "Serious injury" means a personal injury which results in death; dismemberment; significant disfigurement; a fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person's usual and customary daily activities for not less than ninety days during the one hundred eighty days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment." Please understand that the law in this area is quite complicated and you should talk to a local attorney if you have been in an accident. Our attorneys would be happy to provide a free consultation to discuss your situation with you.