Disability Attorney Brian Carmichael

Directions Website Contact the business

Disability Attorney Brian Carmichael Proud to Represent the Disabled Nationwide - Let's Partner to Win YOUR Disability case!

Disability Attorney Brian Carmichael proudly practices Social Security Disability law throughout AL and GA.

10/21/2026

For Social Security disability claims, reaching age 50 can change how the rules are applied.

The medical-vocational guidelines may allow someone who cannot return to past work and is limited to sedentary work to qualify under the applicable grid rules, depending on their individual circumstances.

65% of initial disability claims get denied.At reconsideration, the second look, 85% get denied.Think about that for a s...
10/20/2026

65% of initial disability claims get denied.

At reconsideration, the second look, 85% get denied.

Think about that for a second… think about what those two figures actually mean.

It shows that these evaluations were never about whether you’re disabled.

For most people, they're the two doors you walk through to get in front of a judge, which is where the case is genuinely heard.

I've watched people take that first letter as a verdict on their character.

They read "we have determined you are not disabled" and they genuinely start to believe it.

But there’s so much more to the process. Don’t give up on what you’re owed.

10/19/2026

SSDI and SSI use the same basic medical definition of disability, but their non-medical eligibility requirements are different.

SSDI generally depends on having enough recent work history and paying into Social Security, while SSI is based on limited income and resources.

10/16/2026

In a federal courthouse in Selma, I cross-examined a psychologist about a client with an intellectual disability.

The report said one thing, but the person sitting behind me clearly wasn’t lining up with the report.

I had read the file enough times to know there was a problem, and I spent that morning walking through it line by line in front of a judge.

That day in court is still the reason I do this work.

Not necessarily because of how it turned out, though it mattered.

But because I watched how much weight a single opinion carries when the person it describes has no way to push back on it.

My client couldn't have questioned that report.

Wouldn't have known it was something a person was allowed to question.

I was given every chance to succeed in life, so I fight for people who were never given one.

It almost sounds cliche to say something like that, but it’s true.

Some people simply need our help.

Being sick and being disabled under the law are two different findings.People conflate them constantly, and the confusio...
10/14/2026

Being sick and being disabled under the law are two different findings.

People conflate them constantly, and the confusion costs them a lot.

I've had clients with genuinely serious diagnoses get denied, and clients with conditions that sound minor on paper get approved.

The question isn't how bad your illness is…

But whether the medical record establishes that you can't sustain full-time work, which is a narrower question and a more technical one.

A diagnosis is really just a starting point, in that sense.

What decides it is documentation of function: what you can lift, how long you can stay on your feet, whether you can keep it up 5 days a week.

Those questions effectively determine whether you get what you’re looking for.

10/12/2026

I ask clients to write down their 3 worst days before a doctor's appointment and hand the paper over.

Because many people walk into an exam room planning to explain how they've been…

And then they get asked, and they say “fine.”

They’re not hiding anything… for most people, that's just what you say, and because on the drive over you forgot the morning last week you couldn't get out of bed.

Which is why a written list is so important. It survives those situations where you say you’re “fine.”

It also gives your doctor something concrete to chart, which is the part that eventually matters, since the record is what a decision-maker reads instead of meeting you.

Don’t skip this step and wonder why your file reads that you’re doing just fine.

If you're working part-time while your disability claim is pending, there's a good chance you're about to end it without...
10/09/2026

If you're working part-time while your disability claim is pending, there's a good chance you're about to end it without knowing.

Earn above roughly $1,690 a month in gross wages, and the analysis can stop there.

If you go above that number, the case is over.

I've had people tell me they picked up shifts because rent was due, which is the most reasonable thing a person in that position can do.

But the rule doesn't have a place for reasonable.

Anyone with a pending claim and any income at all needs to know that threshold before the next pay period.

10/07/2026

Many people who file for disability spend the waiting period asking how long it’ll take.

I understand the question, and I've never once been able to answer it in a way that helps…

An initial medical decision runs 8 to 12 months.

From intake to a hearing decision, you're looking at roughly 2 years.

Not fun, I know.

But to make it through all this nonsense, you need to adjust your mindset a bit.

Instead of how long, start asking what you can actually control between now and then.

The answer is the medical record.

Whether you're seeing your doctors consistently.

Whether those visits are documenting function and not just refilling prescriptions.

Whether the specialist your primary care physician mentioned 8 months ago ever got scheduled.

2 years is a long time to wait with no control over the outcome.

But it's a reasonable amount of time to build a file that's ready when your name gets called.

10/05/2026

When a denial letter comes in, I go to the medical evidence section first.

But many people read the first paragraph, see that they've been denied, and put it down.

That’s a mistake.

It lists what Social Security actually looked at, which tells you what they didn't look at.

Such as a missing specialist, or perhaps records from a provider who never sent them.

I've read letters where the entire basis for denial was an incomplete file that took 2 phone calls to fix.

I wish I were lying. But this happens.

10/01/2026

Hearings by phone became permanent after COVID.

And I've come to think it helped my clients more than anything else that changed in 20 years.

Getting to a hearing used to be its own obstacle.

A person who can't sit for an hour thanks to a disability, doesn't drive anymore, and lives 90 minutes from the office had to solve that problem before anyone heard their case.

Some didn't make it, and a missed hearing comes with legitimate consequences.

Context can get lost on a phone line, and I won't pretend otherwise, since a judge seeing how somebody moves across a room is evidence too.

But for a program serving people who often can't travel, I'll take the tradeoff.

Address

Opelika, AL

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Disability Attorney Brian Carmichael posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Disability Attorney Brian Carmichael:

Shortcuts

Share

Category