Students Secure Long Awaited Disability Benefits for Clinic Client

Students Secure Long Awaited Disability Benefits for Clinic Client 4
Jack Kider ’15 and Blair Green ’15 outside the federal courthouse in San Jose following the hearing.

Community Law Clinic students Blair Green ’15 and Jack Kider ’15, recently represented a client in a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, in a claim for disability benefits.  Their client had been waiting for benefits for over five years, having previously been denied by the Social Security Administration multiple times including at a prior hearing.

After developing new evidence of their client’s impairments, the students presented a new theory of the case, arguing that their client was entitled to disability benefits because of a combination of mental and physical impairments, several of which had been previously undiagnosed.  At hearing, the Administrative Law Judge found their arguments persuasive and issued a bench decision granting their client ongoing and retroactive benefits!