What Will a Lawyer Cost?

One good thing about a Social Security claim is that hiring an attorney can be fairly painless, since fees are usually paid at the end of the case, and since they are paid only if you then have money.

Firms charge in different ways. You should ask carefully what any attorney is going to charge, and when. This is how we handle it at McChesney and McChesney:

• You will not have to pay any money to sit down and talk to us about a Social Security problem, or to call and talk to us at 1-800-775-3985.
• In a claim to get Social Security Disability or SSI benefits started, you will not have to pay any money unless we win your case.
• In most cases involving past due benefits, we charge around 25% of your past due checks as the fee, and ask you to pay back what we spend out of our pocket.

In the rare case where there will be little or no past due benefits, most attorneys can make special arrangements. We usually ask you to pay something down and something per month. We do not charge for the first conference, and we there we can try to find a way to work together, usually by agreeing to a down payment and some amount per month.