Transcription
Disability hearings are quite informal. A judge is present, and from time to time, you have a claimant, an applicant for social security disability who has no attorney. The claim is supported essentially by medical records and the testimony of the individual who claims that they’re disabled. We very often will bring in a witness who knows the claimant very well, for example, a spouse or aa parent who will testify that they’ve observed that the claimant is in constant pain. They can’t walk upstairs. They can only sit so long. What they do is nothing but lay down all day. That kind of collateral support through witness testimony can be very, very helpful because the judge is trying to make a decision. He hears the same kind of testimony, or she hears the same kind of testimony, all the time. The judge is judging the credibility or believability of the claimant. A witness who will support the testimony of the claimant can be very, very useful.
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