We (my wife/CG and I) did it ourselves after finding that lawyers can get as much as a good percent of the settlement for their actions, Of course the SS folks helped by their reasons for denials denial #: 1. I could go back to flying fighter planes--a sit down job, no heavy lifting required, etc. 2. I could return to being a physician -- also no heavy lifting, etc., etc. Ah the reasoning power of a bureaucracy -- awesome... I could not have timed things so perfectly so I consider this story an act of God: I walked into the court presence and enjoyed a few minutes of near perfect function -- having cycled to "on" about two hours previous -- when I then cycled "off" in front of that judge, and Mary had to tale over, I could not have made a better case for myself. the judge ruled immediately and we got enough in retrograde payments to put a down payment on a home in our case the court consisted of a judge and two auxiliaries (administrative?) people. The moral: do not fear "going to court." It can clear up/speed things along It is one place where PD making you miserable is good. Regards, WHH 54/18