wells.karen•18d agoOG Member

Hot take: Too many people confuse SSDI with SSI when talking to their lawyer

I swear half the posts I see on here people say they applied for disability but don't even know which program. I sat down with my lawyer in Fresno last month and he had to explain the difference for 20 minutes. It matters because SSDI is based on work credits and SSI is based on need, and your whole case strategy changes. Has anyone else had their lawyer waste a whole appointment clearing this up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jordan18d ago

hard disagree tbh. like yeah there's a difference but most lawyers know what they're doing regardless of what you call it. my guy in bakersfield didn't even bat an eye when i said i was applying for "disability" without specifying. he just asked about my work history and medical records and figured out which program fit. if you're going to a lawyer who needs a whole 20 minutes to explain the basics, maybe that's on you for picking a bad lawyer. most of them will just file based on what they see in your records anyway so knowing the exact name upfront isnt that important.

cole35617d ago

Seems like a lot of people are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. If your lawyer can figure out the right program from your medical records, then the name you use is pretty much irrelevant. Either way you're both ending up at the same place, so who cares what you called it on the phone.

davis.adam17d ago

Oh man that's basically what happened with me too! I called up a lawyer in Fresno and just said "I need help with disability stuff" and they took it from there. They didn't even ask me what kind or anything, just started pulling my medical records and asking about my jobs. Next thing I knew they were talking about SSDI and I was like "yeah sure whatever that is." It worked out fine in the end. I think people online get way too caught up in the terminology when the real test is whether the lawyer knows their stuff. My guy had been doing it for 20 years and probably could've handled it if I called it "that government paycheck thing.