by CFKJ LawWhy Should I Invest in a Criminal Expungement?
First, what is an expungement? When your record is expunged, the court will impound the physical criminal file and delete it from their computers so that it no longer exists. The court will also order that any interested police departments must destroy all records pertaining to that case. So it essentially means that your criminal record is destroyed, which is great news!
Why am I calling it an investment? Investment is defined as the act of investing money in order to gain profitable returns, and that is exactly what you’re doing with an expungement. You are investing money so that it will pay off for you in the future.
How can getting an expungement “pay off”? There are many, many benefits to getting an expungement, but here is a list of my top six reasons clients should invest in one:
1. Getting a Job
Whether you have a job, or are looking for a new job, having a criminal record can really hurt your employability. Current employees may be terminated for having a criminal record, and future employers may refuse to employ you once they find out about your criminal record. After all, if you’ve ever filled out a job application you probably remember the section where they ask if you’ve ever been convicted of a crime. This always creates a problem for someone with a criminal record. They can either answer truthfully and risk not getting the job, or lie and risk being in violation of the law once again. If you successfully expunge your record, you should be able to truthfully answer “no” to that question.
2. Renting a House or an Apartment
A lot of private landlords and/or real estate agencies may also run background checks, which can cause a person not to be able to rent property and live in a decent area. Expunging your record eliminates this information from view.
3. Getting a Loan
If a bank or other lender runs a background check on a potential borrower, his or her criminal history will come up. Companies have varying policies on lending to people with criminal records. Some loan agencies think that a criminal conviction is an indication that someone is less likely to meet their financial obligations, this means you may be facing higher interest rates or be unable to get a loan at all, which can result in difficulty buying a car, a home, or paying for any other necessities of life. While it is against the law to deny people a loan based on their gender, religion, race, or other protected status, it is not against the law to deny people loans for having a criminal record.
4. Getting a College Education/Obtaining Student Aid
For students, having a criminal record can be even more hurtful; your university may expel you from your current program, or they may refuse any kind of aid or any sort of grant. They may also make you ineligible for any kind of honors or awards. If you apply to a university, you may not get admitted based solely on your criminal record. An expungement could prevent colleges from seeing this negative information.
5. Buying or Possessing Firearms
A criminal record can definitely restrict your rights to possess or purchase any kind of firearms. Gun ownership and possessing other kinds of armor may be restricted, or even banned, for people with a criminal record. Contact our office to find out if an expungement can help you regain your rights to firearm possession.
6. Adopting a Child
Have you ever considered adopting a child? If so, getting your criminal record expunged could help you in this process. In Illinois a fingerprint-based FBI and State criminal background check is required for a prospective adoptive parent as part of the adoption investigation. The results of the criminal background check shall be provided to the court for its review. The court may, in its discretion, weigh the significance of the results of the criminal background check against the entirety of the background of the petitioners. Your adoption petition could be challenged or even denied, if you have a conviction in the past.
At Culley, Feist, Kuppart & Jordan, we don’t believe in letting your past dictate your future. To learn more about how we can help you expunge or seal your criminal record, please contact our office by calling us today for a free consultation at 618-252-7422.
by CFKJ LawHow Does My Age Affect My Social Security Disability Claim?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) considers several factors to establish an individual’s entitlement to Social Security disability or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability, and age is one of those criteria.
Social Security Disability Vocational Guidelines
The SSA has established vocational guidelines to aid disability claims examiners in their decision-making process. These medical-vocational guidelines have become known as the “medical-vocational grid,” or simply “the grid.”
How the Grid Affects Your Disability Benefits
What does the grid have to do with your age? How do either affect your ability to receive Social Security disability? The grid takes into consideration factors other than medical information when making a disability decision. These other factors include your age, skills, and education, in addition to your residual functional capacity. (***Per the SSA, your residual functional capacity assessment is your impairments, and any related symptoms, such as pain, which may cause physical and mental limitations that affect what you can do in a work setting. Your residual functional capacity is the most you can still do despite your limitations.)
Social Security has set up four age categories to help with the disability decision process:
- “Younger individual” is labeled by ages 45-49 and those below age 45,
- “Closely approaching advanced age” means age 50-54,
- “Advanced age” means age 55 and over;
- “Closely approaching retirement age” means age 60 and over.
Social Security uses these age groups, along with an individual’s residual functional capacity, the skill level of an individual’s past work, and the individual’s education to establish an individual’s disability. For example, if you are under the age of 50, you have little formal education, and you are limited to sedentary work, you would most likely be denied disability if you are literate, even if you haven’t performed skilled work before. However, using the same example, if you are over 50, you are much more likely to be granted disability benefits.
The medical-vocational grid rules are generally favorable if an individual is approaching advanced age (ages 50 – 54). However, the Social Security medical-vocational rules are most favorable to individuals who are 55 and older. Social Security expects a worker to take on very little vocational retraining at this age.
These are just examples. Even if you do not fit the medical-vocational classifications for an approval at your age exactly, there is still a chance that your disability claim is winnable.
To learn more about how we can help you file for social security benefits, please contact our office by calling us today for a free consultation at 618-252-7422.
by CFKJ Law4 Reasons To Hire an Attorney Before you File for Social Security Disability Benefits.
Often clients will come to us only after they have been denied Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. While we’re always happy to help clients at any stage of the process, we wish that we had been able to help them from the beginning when they completed the initial application. Why is that?
- Your Chances of Getting Awarded Disability Benefits Are Greatly Increased If You Hire Counsel Before You Apply.
Most SSD applications are initially denied. Nationally, 64% of initial applications are denied. The reconsideration appeal level has the lowest approval rating at only 13.8%.
In September 2012, the Social Security Advisory Board released a report which said that the help of a third-party representative has “the potential to greatly expedite the disability determination process, while ensuring that the claimant receives the most informed determination possible at the initial claims stage.”
If we are there at the beginning, helping our clients fill out the application and collecting the medical evidence required for their application to succeed, it is more likely that they will get the benefits they need sooner rather than later. We can ensure that your application is complete, accurate, and in the proper format.
- You Will Be Represented at Application and at any Administrative Hearing.
Another great reason to hire counsel before you are denied benefits is so that you will not have to navigate the system alone. The administrative rules, procedures, and regulations that apply to disability benefits or supplemental income benefits are confusing and complex.
Plus, many people find the initial application process to be uncomfortable or they do not feel they can present themselves very well or provide the right information. When you hire counsel at the beginning of your case, you will be represented at all levels of the application process and you will have the advice and guidance you need if the SSA orders you to undergo a medical examination.
- Advice of Counsel.
Probably the most important reason of all is because when you hire counsel, you will have someone to fight for you, answer your questions, and to advise you every step of the way.
- An SSD benefits lawyer works on a contingency-fee basis.
At Culley, Feist, Kuppart & Jordan, LLC, we work on a contingency-fee basis. Our legal fees depend on the awards we obtain for our clients. You won’t pay any fees to us up front and won’t ever pay us a fee until we help you obtain SSD benefits. Essentially, we don’t get paid until we help you get paid.
Our fee is limited to 25% of the past-due benefits you are awarded, up to a maximum of $6,000. Note that we will be paid only out of your past-due benefits, or “backpay.”
To learn more about how we can help you file for social security benefits, please contact our office by calling us today for a free consultation at 618-252-7422.
by CFKJ LawWhat is a Utilization Review, and how can it affect my workers’ compensation case?
A utilization review, otherwise known as a UR, is when your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier has an outside doctor review your medical records and author a “UR Report” stating whether or not the medical treatment recommended by your treating physician is “medically necessary within Official Disability Guidelines”.
To help you better understand, I’ll give you an example. Imagine you’ve been undergoing treatment for a low back injury that you can’t quite overcome. Despite going through physical therapy, you are still experiencing low back pain. So your doctor recommends that you undergo an epidural steroid injection hoping that it resolves your pain once and for all, and puts you on the road to a full recovery. Instead of approving this minimally invasive conservative treatment, the insurance carrier submits the treatment recommendation and your medical records for a utilization review. That doctor hired by the insurance carrier then reviews your medical records and the request for treatment and determines whether or not that treatment is medically necessary pursuant to the “Official Disability Guidelines,” or ODG, all without ever examining or speaking with you. I should also mention that while this is going on, you most likely will not be notified that your treatment has been sent for a utilization review.
Here’s what you need to know about the Official Disability Guidelines. First, and foremost, the organization who published them, Work Loss Data Institute, has a financial interest in making the guidelines as conservative as possible. The ODG counts employers, insurers, and third party administrator’s as their clients. AKA, the company and not you, the injured worker. On the ODG’s website, they boast that the use of the Guidelines has led to “Medical cost-savings of 25%-60% (by state, payer, TPA, and health plan). www.worklossdata.com This is why the UR report most often ends with “This request is not medically necessary within Official Disability Guidelines…” This gives the insurance carrier the legal basis they need to deny the medical treatment requested by your doctor.
Once the physician performing your UR makes the determination that the treatment recommended by your doctor is not medically necessary, the next step is for the UR doctor to call and discuss it peer-to-peer with your doctor. It essentially provides your doctor the opportunity to argue the necessity of your treatment, and could allegedly change the UR doctor’s determination. However, I don’t think I have ever actually seen one single time where the UR doctor was able to get the treating physician on the phone to discuss their opinion. Most of the peer-to-peer calls I have seen take place at 7:00 am, noon, or even 6:00 p.m. It is an interesting coincidence how those calls almost always take place during a time when the doctor is sure to be unavailable.
As a side note, I’ll tell you a secret. When I did workers’ compensation defense I always recommended against obtaining a UR. Insurance companies like them because they are cheap; much cheaper than a Section 12 exam (commonly called an IME, or independent medical exam). URs are cheap and dependable for the employer, but not very credible in my opinion. In six years, I honestly can’t remember more than a handful of URs certifying, or approving, the recommended treatment. The overwhelming majority of URs deny the medical necessity of the recommended treatment.
Once the recommended medical treatment is denied, you have two options. Accept the decision of the UR report or fight it. In order to fight it, you will need the help of an experienced workers’ compensation attorney who can take the insurance company before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission to present your case. Utilization Reviews are just one example of how insurance companies are trying to cut costs and save money at the expense of the injured worker. Sadly, it results in slowing down an injured worker’s treatment and their eventual recovery.
To learn more about utilization reviews or how we can help you file a workers’ compensation claim, please contact our office by calling us today for a free consultation at 618-252-7422.