I am originally from the Boston area. I earned my undergraduate degree from Tufts University and my law degree from Boston University School of Law. I am a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and I have been appointed by Massachusetts courts to represent disabled individuals in probate matters.

I have been practicing Social Security disability law since 1986. Over the past 25 years, I have become very familiar with a wide range of physical and mental impairments, and have been particularly successful in obtaining medical records from physicians to prove the required legal elements of a disability claim. I also am experienced in working with vocational rehabilitation counselors to assist a claim. I handle claims for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. I can help at all stages of these proceedings, from filing an initial claim through the administrative hearing and, if necessary, all the way to an appeal to federal court.

I understand that the process of obtaining Social Security disability benefits can be frustrating, confusing and, often, overwhelming. With every client, I try to be a voice of reason and compassion during the time we work together.

If you would like the counsel of an experienced, knowledgeable and local Boston Social Security lawyer, please use the Free Claim Evaluation form on this page to contact me, or call or email me directly. I will visit you in your home if you cannot come to my office.

Most clients prefer … and most lawyers offer … a “contingent fee,” a fee paid only if they win. The usual fee is 25% (one-quarter) of back benefits up to a maximum amount set by SSA, which is currently $6,000. The fee comes from those benefits that build up by the time you are found disabled and benefits are paid. No fee comes out of current monthly benefits.

Although the usual fee will not normally exceed the maximum fee of $6,000, if your lawyer has to appeal after the first administrative law judge hearing, your contract might allow for a fee greater than $6,000. Even in this circumstance, though, your fee is likely to not be greater than 25% of back benefits.

In addition to the fee, many attorneys expect you to pay the expense of gathering medical records, obtaining medical opinion letters, etc.

I represent disabled individuals who are pursuing claims for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in Massachusetts. If you live in Lowell, Cambridge, or anywhere in the greater Boston area, and you would like an experienced Social Security disability lawyer to help you through the application and appeals process, please use the Free Claim Evaluation form on this page to contact me, or call or email me directly. If you cannot come to my office, I will meet with you in your home.

Daniel C. Roache

Serving Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk and Plymouth Counties

25 Thorndike Street

Cambridge, Ma. 02141

Social Security regulations make it easier to be found disabled as you get older. It becomes easier for a few people at age 45 (those unable to read English), for more people at age 50, for most people at age 55, and even more people at age 60. If you’re over age 55 and you cannot do any job you have done in the past 15 years, you should definitely apply. If you’re over age 50 and have a severe impairment that keeps you from doing all but the easiest jobs, you ought to apply.

But even if you’re a younger person, you don’t have to be bedridden in order to be found disabled. If you’re under age 45 or 50 and you cannot do your past jobs and you cannot work full time at any regular job, that ought to be enough.

Nevertheless, being unable to work and being found “disabled” by the Social Security Administration (SSA) are two different things. It is often difficult to convince SSA that someone is “disabled” even when he or she genuinely cannot work. But it is not impossible.

If you really cannot work, apply for disability benefits from SSA. And keep appealing denials at least through the hearing before an administrative law judge. If you lose at a hearing, sometimes a lawyer with experience handling disability cases can figure out a way to win your case by pursuing the next appeal – to the Appeals Council.