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Prepare for Trick Questions from the Social Security Judge - YouTube
Channel: Social Security Disability videos
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♪ [music] ♪ Hi there.
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This is Jonathan Ginsberg, and I want to talk
to you today about the importance of answering
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questions completely and truthfully, and without
exception at your social security disability
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hearings.
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And let me tell you about a hearing that I
recently attended with a client of mine, and
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something that happened there that I think
is a good lesson for all of us.
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Basically, this is a hearing for a client
who had a significant medical issue.
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it was before a judge who is known for being
very, very particular.
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He asks a lot of detailed questions, and he
sort of has a technique where he will ask
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a question that he already knows the answer
to just to see how the claimant reacts.
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So, in this particular case, the judge said
to my client, "Do you smoke cigarettes?"
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And again, in the great scheme of this case,
whether he smoked or not was not an issue.
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So to take that out of it, his medical condition
was serious enough to disable him, whether
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he smoked or not wouldn't make a difference.
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So, my client responded, "No, I do not smoke."
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And the judge said, "Well, I'm looking here
at a medical record, that talks about, that
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you've talked about that you do smoke."
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And the client said, "Well, let me stand corrected.
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I used to smoke several years ago, but I gave
it up, and I really haven't smoked in about
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four or five years."
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The judge says, "Well, looking at this record,
it's dated about 11 months ago.
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It talked about that you do smoke cigarettes
sometimes."
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And the client thought for a second and he
said "Well, to be completely truthful with
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you, when I'm really depressed, sometimes
I'll reach for a cigarette.
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Doesn't happen very often, but a couple times
a year that'll happen."
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And the judge says, "Well, I've noticed this
a couple of times in the record where it's
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referencing cigarette smoking," and then judge
stopped and said, you know, "Mr. so-and-so,
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let me just explain to you that I'm asking
this question, not so much because I care
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about whether you smoke cigarettes or not,
but I'm trying to get a sense of how truthful
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you are when you answer questions.
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Because, if you're not going to give me accurate
information about whether you smoke or not,
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how can I believe it when you talk about other
issues you may have, any pain issues you may
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have, or any other mental health issues you
may have.
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So, you need to really think about this and
give me completely truthful answer."
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And so, my client responded, "Well, your honor,
you have to admit that sometimes can be a
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character flaw I have that I really don't
like to talk about things I consider to be
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embarrassing, and I'll really try harder to
be more truthful."
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Judge says, "I'll appreciate that, so I'm
going to ask you again.
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Do you smoke?"
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And the client said, "Well, I would say that
during the course of a year, there are times
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when I get really, really depressed, and when
that happens, you know, I don't really eat
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so much but I will smoke a cigarette.
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If I had to add it all together, I would say
I smoke about a carton of cigarettes during
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the course of a year."
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So we went from I don't smoke at all, to I
haven't smoked for four or five years, to
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I smoke a carton of cigarettes a year.
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And again, a carton of cigarettes a year is
not a whole heck of a lot, but again that
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could be, I don't know how many cigarettes
are in a carton, but let's assume that's a
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pack, a pack and a half a month, it's not
insubstantial.
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But the point is it, in this particular case,
I think that what my client did was he hurt
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his credibility by not being completely honest
with the judge the first time.
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So, hopefully down the road the judge got
the sense he was really trying much harder
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to be completely truthful.
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But the lesson we can all learn from this
is, when the judge asks you a question, be
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careful about giving answers that are in,
what I would call, absolutes.
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"I never do something, I always do something."
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You also don't want to say "Sometimes," you
want to be real specific.
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So, again, my client would have been better
off saying, "I don't smoke as a rule, I used
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to smoke four or five years ago, or seven
or eight years ago, now the only time I smoke
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would be when I get depressed, and it may
come to be about a carton during the course
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of a year, or maybe a pack of cigarettes a
month," something like that.
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And again, that would've been the better way
to answer it.
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So, I hope my client was able to recover his
credibility with this judge.
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But again, I just want you to be aware that
judges will sometimes ask you questions they
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already know the answer to, just so they can
get a gauge on your accuracy, your reliability
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and your truthfulness.
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So it's certainly not wise to blow that on
a insubstantial matter, especially when it's
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going to be in the medial record.
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And like I said, most lawyers, most judges,
will always ask questions they kind of have
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a sense what the answer is, so they can kind
of know where you stand.
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So, I hope this has been helpful, and I hope
that you take this to mind as you prepare
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for your hearing, and recognize the importance
of being 100% truthful, avoiding speaking
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in absolutes, and giving information as specifically...
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answering the question that the judge gives
you, and answering it to the best of your
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knowledge.
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I hope this has been helpful.
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Again, my name is Jonathan Ginsberg, here
in Atlanta, Georgia.
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And any questions you've got for me, please
let me know.
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Thanks a lot.
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♪ [music] ♪
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