Social Security and Attorney’s Fees

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Consumer Protection Laws Dino Tsibouris (614)
Advertisements

A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF SETTLING CASES: PART II Donald Patrick Eckler December 23, 2013.
Joanne R. Gasparini Director, Payment and Recovery Policy Staff Office of Financial Policy and Operations June 2, 2005 Administrative Wage Garnishment.
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited CANADIAN BUSINESS AND THE LAW Second Edition by Dorothy Duplessis Steven Enman Shannon.
APARTMENT OWNERS NETWORK NOVEMBER o Outline the new District Court Procedure o o Service of Proceedings – Problems o Statute of Limitations – 6.
HIPAA Privacy Rule Training
M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart v, Chap. 3
Dheeraj Agarwal Ethics Advisor Health Resources and Services Administration U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
1 What is the Martinez Settlement and Who Will It Help? Powerpoint created by Linda Landry with assistance from Svetlana Uimenkova, Sarah Anderson, Karen.
Suing the Federal Government. 2 History Traditional Sovereign Immunity US Constitution "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES PRIVACY ACT (PA) SYSTEMS OF RECORDS MANAGERS.
The New Mediation Regulation October 16, 2012 Commissioner Derrick L. Williams.
Matthew L. Harvey Office of General Counsel Illinois Commerce Commission.
Code of Federal Regulations Title 42, Chapter 1, Subchapter A Part 2 – CONFIDENTIALITY OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE PATIENTS BRYANT D. MILLER CAC II, MAC,
Endorsement Split Dollar Plans Reward & retain key executives ©2014 Voya Services Company. All rights reserved. CN
Understanding Social Security Administration Information in the State Services Portal Moderated by:DeAnne Sandoval Statewide Training Branch Section Manager.
Bankruptcy What is it’s Effect?. Bankruptcy A legal process that relieves debtors of the responsibility of paying their debts or protects them while they.
Social Security Retirement John S. Whitelaw Community Legal Services 1410 West Erie Avenue Philadelphia, PA July 2014 This presentation was sponsored.
Principles of SSI Unit 8. Medicaid eligibility SEC [42 U.S.C. 1383c] (a) The Commissioner of Social Security may enter into an agreement with any.
Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C.A. §§ )
Frivolous Claims. Introduction  PL (12/22/06) allows attorneys to represent veterans before VA for a fee after NOD is filed.  VA required to.
Legal Issues Regarding Section 125 Plans Patricia A. Butler, JD, DrPH SCI/NASHP/NGA Cafeteria Plan Meeting, Denver, July18, 2008.
Informal Claims And Inferred Claims.
SSA and OCSE Making Waves in Collections for Our Children 1 May 25, 2011 ERICSA 2011 Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Administrative Law The Enactment of Rules and Regulations.
Chapter 10 Trustees, Examiners & Creditors Committees.
Copyright All rights reserved. Copyright All rights reserved. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) – value added for business or competitive.
Strengthening Erie County’s Ethics Law and Board of Ethics MARK C. POLONCARZ ERIE COUNTY EXECUTIVE.
2010 OGS State Purchasing Forum Navigating Proof of Coverage May 19-20, 2010 Required Proof of NYS Workers' Compensation and Disability Benefits Insurance.
Regulation and Discipline. LAWYER’S ROLES Representative of the client Officer of the court Public citizen.
Midterm Review 1.  Lawyers have ethical obligations that are required by the organizations to which they belong.  Lawyers are “members of the bar”,
HIPAA Privacy Rule Training
Nassau Association of School Technologists
Class 17 Bankruptcy, Spring, 2009 Overview of Plan Process
DOL Employee Benefit Plan Audits & How to Prepare
Joe Mueller Illinois Department of Employment Security
Utah Charter School Code & Rules
Fair Justice for All – Implementation of Recommendations
FAR Part 2 - Definitions of Words and Terms
Discretionary Transfer of Cases to Tribal Court
Wyoming Statutes §§ through
Current Issues In Asset Seizure Under U.S. Law
A Single Claimant Qualified Settlement Fund
Probating a Will and Administering an Estate
Bradley J. Frigon, JD, LLM (Tax), CELA
Providing for Persons with Disabilities
Federal Debt Collection Basics for Accountants
Proceedings.
Unemployment compensation and social security
Compliance Program 2018.
Health Advocate HIPAA Privacy Information
SSA Adverse Decisions and Administrative Finality
Social Security Disability Benefits By Sara G. Khaki, Esq
GUARDIANSHIP, ESTATE PLANNING AND THE ABLE ACT
Social Security Disability for the Pro Bono Lawyer
Limited Scope Representation
NEW YORK STATE ETHICS LAW
Low-Income Taxpayer Issues under the Affordable Care Act
Setoff Debt Collection Program
Kentucky County Treasurer’s Duties of a County Treasurer
MYPF 7.1 Our Tax System 7.2 Filing Tax Returns
Warranties and guarantees in Ukrainian law
What is OAL? The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) ensures that agency regulations are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. OAL.
JUSTICE ADMINISTERED FUND BILL [B ] BRIEFING OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SECURITY AND JUSTICE ON 8 NOVEMBER 2016.
CHAPTER 14 CORPORATE DISSOLUTION © 2010 Delmar Cengage Learning.
MYPF 7.1 Our Tax System 7.2 Filing Tax Returns
Nebraska Supreme Court rules on interpreters Additions & Amendments
State of florida tax information sharing Paula Barfield August 5, 2015
APPEALING DISABILITY DECISIONS
Chapter 15: Administrative Procedures
Presentation transcript:

Social Security and Attorney’s Fees Statutes, Regulations, and POMs

42 U.S.C. § 406 (a)(1) Commissioner…may, by rule or regulation, prescribe the maximum fees which may be charged for services performed in connection with any claim before the Commissioner of Social Security under this title…

20 CFR §416.1520 (a) A representative may charge and receive a fee for his or her services as a representative only as provided in paragraph (b) of this section.

20 CFR §416.1503 Representative means an attorney…whom you appoint to represent you in dealings with us.

20 CFR §416.1520(a)(3) [Unless excepted] a representative must not charge a fee or receive any fee unless we have authorized it, and a representative must not charge or receive any fee that is more than the amount we authorize.

20 CFR §416.1540(c)(2) A representative must not…knowingly charge, collect or retain, or make any arrangement to charge, collect or retain, from any source, directly or indirectly, any fee for representational services in violation of applicable law or regulation.

Proposed Addition This prohibition includes soliciting any gift or other item of value, other than what is authorized by law.

GN 03920.001 A representative who wants to charge or collect a fee for services provided in any proceeding before SSA under the Social Security Act must first obtain SSA’s authorization…

GN 03920.005(B) [Fee approval required]..irrespective of whether (among other things): The services result in an allowance, reinstatement, or disallowance action by SSA;

GN 03920.005(B) The attorney/non-attorney was ever recognized by SSA as a claimant’s representative, or the individual did not deal directly with or actually contact SSA; or

GN 03920.005(B) The fee is charged to or collected from the claimant or a third party (e.g. an insurance company) , unless [Legal Aid exception]

GN 03920.005(C) SSA considers any claim or asserted right under titles II, XVI, or XVIII of the Social Security Act, which results in the following, to be a proceeding before SSA for fee purposes: an initial, revised, or reconsidered determination or action by a field office or processing center…

GN 03920.005(D) Proceedings that require SSA’s fee authorization include, but are not limited to, services in connection with: an application for Social Security monthly benefits , supplemental security income (SSI) payments, or a lump- sum death payment

GN 03920.010(D) We do not consider the services in proceedings before state or federal courts..to be services provided in connection with proceedings before us; therefore the fee authorization provisions do not apply to court proceedings.

United States v. Lewis, 235 F. Supp. 220 (E.D. Tenn. 1964) Whether services performed in preparing a tax return are services performed in connection with a claim subject to regulation by the Secretary for charging a fee “depends upon whether the real purpose…is to knowingly further a claim then made or to be made before the Social Security Administration”.

SSR 65-33c, Section 206 – REPRESENTATION OF CLAIMANT – FEE FOR SERVICES -- VIOLATION Finding in U.S. v Lewis adopted as a Social Security Ruling. SSR 65-33c quotes verbatim a part of the federal court criminal appeal that held an accountant liable for failure to secure approval of a fee for preparing a federal tax return.

Social Security Disability Practice, Section 746, by Thomas E. Bush Do the fee-setting regulations apply if an attorney provides “services” in connection with a pending claim but an attorney is not officially appointed as a “representative” pursuant to 20 CFR § 404.1707?

Social Security Disability Practice, Section 746, by Thomas E. Bush For example, can you counsel a claimant in an overpayment case and avoid the operation of the fee-setting regulations by never being appointed as the representative?

Social Security Disa bility Practice, Section 746, by Thomas E. Bush Some attorneys have been known to argue that unless they are appointed as a representative, the fee-setting regulations do not apply. They point out that only appointed representatives are required to file fee petitions under 20 C.F.R. § 404.1720(b).

Social Security Disability Practice, Section 746, by Thomas E. Bush Nevertheless, SSA’s policy is that an SSA fee authorization is required “irrespective of whether” the attorney “was ever recognized by SSA as a claimant’s representative, or the individual did not deal directly with or actually contact SSA” POMS GN 03920.005 B.

Social Security Disability Practice, Section 746, by Thomas E. Bush Thus, SSA may argue that the ambiguous language of 20 C.F.R. § 404.1740 (c) is broad enough to impose penalties on an attorney who charges a fee that is not appropriate. This controversy illustrates yet another example of the poor quality draftsmanship in the attorney fee regulations…Because penalties are involved, caution is appropriate.

Sanctions Any representative found to have charged or collected an unauthorized fee may be suspended or disqualified from practice before SSA and will be barred from appearing before SSA until full restitution is made. The representative is also subject to fines and imprisonment.