Lisa Smith Siegel, Attorney at Law

05/27/2026

Severe mood changes can make working impossible.

Insights on disability guidelines.

04/27/2026

Chronic lower back pain may qualify for SSDI based on work limitations, not pain alone.

What do they look for?

03/06/2026

Heavy lifting or sitting for hours can become too difficult for many Georgia workers.

Evidence to gather.

02/24/2026

Low-income disabled adults, blind people, and seniors over 65 or older may seek financial support through this government program.

How much financial support is available?

02/04/2026

The Social Security Administration (SSA) looks at schizophrenia and bipolar disorder through different disability lenses.

What's the criteria for functional limitations?

02/02/2026

Here is an update from SSA on the current partial goverment shutdown:

Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding beginning January 31, 2026. As a result, the federal government is experiencing a partial shutdown until further notice. We recognize that your organization plays a critical role, and we want to provide you with information to help you guide the people you serve.
We want you to know that during this partial federal government shutdown, payments to all people who currently receive Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will continue with no change in payment dates. Your clients will still receive their payments on time.

To help manage their benefits and access important services, please encourage your clients to create a personal my Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. With a my Social Security account, your clients can review benefit estimates, request a proof of income letter, apply for benefits, request a replacement Social Security card or Medicare card, access and print benefit verification letters, and much more. It’s easy, convenient, and secure.
Our local offices will remain open to the public but will provide reduced services. During this time, your clients can still:

• Apply for benefits
• Request an appeal
• Change their address or direct deposit information
• Report a death
• Verify or change their citizenship status
• Replace a lost or missing Social Security payment
• Obtain a critical payment
• Change a representative payee
• Make a change in their living arrangement or income (SSI recipients only)
• Obtain a new or replacement Social Security card

Please be aware that we may not be able to assist with all in-person service requests at this time. For example, we cannot provide proof of benefits letters, or update or correct earnings records. These in-person services will resume when the federal government is operating normally.
Hearings offices remain open to conduct hearings before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).
For more information on the government shutdown, visit www.ssa.gov/agency/shutdown.

01/29/2026

Disability benefits are difficult to earn and maintain, but some daily habits can provide supporting evidence of functional limitations.

Records and communication are key.

01/20/2026

Many factors affect eligibility, including physical restrictions, medical records and the projected recovery time.

Is there an age cutoff?

08/22/2023

August 22 falls in the midst of the state and county fair season. State and county fairs are an American pastime in the late summer and early fall—a remnant of a cross-cultural tradition rooted in ancient times.

The earliest fairs, such as the great Aztec fair that Spanish conquistadors found on the present-day site of Mexico City, were created to solve problems of distribution. Located along major trade or pilgrimage routes, fairs and festivals provided opportunities for people to demonstrate their skills and crafts, exchange ideas, and barter for goods.

Today, fairs provide opportunities for travel, entertainment, commerce, and socializing, and also play an important role in the social and economic lives of rural Americans. For urban folk, they provide a means of learning about and appreciating rural and agricultural lifestyles.

Livestock and agriculture competitions sponsored by manufacturers and agricultural societies, such as the 4-H Club, are fixtures of state and county fairs as are various other contests. Traditional homecrafts such as quilting, lacemaking, rugmaking, baking, and canning, are showcased and awarded ribbons for “best of show.”

Let’s Go To The Fair! | Mexican Americans and United Farm Workers of America

05/05/2023

On May 5, 1925, high school science teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in one of Tennessee’s public schools. On May 4, the day before Scopes’s arrest, the Chatanooga Times ran an ad in which the American Civil Liberties UnionExternal offered to pay the legal fees of a Tennessee teacher willing to act as defendant in a case intended to test Tennessee’s new law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in its public schools. Several Dayton, Tennessee residents hatched a plot at a local drugstore, hoping a trial of this type would bring much needed publicity to the tiny town. John Scopes agreed to admit to teaching the theory of evolution for the test case.

Cinco de Mayo | Scopes Trial