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Griswold Legal, LLC  ·  North Olmsted, Ohio

Federal Social Security
Disability Appeals.

When the Appeals Council says no, federal court is the final option. That is the case I am here for — with the institutional knowledge of someone who spent 21 years inside the Social Security Administration reading and writing the decisions under review.

Request a Case Review Referring Attorneys
Practice Focus

One area of law.
One federal district.

I represent claimants in Social Security disability matters, from initial applications and administrative law judge hearings through federal district court review in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

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Federal District Court Appeals

Appeals to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). I am admitted to practice in the Northern District, and I take the full proceeding from complaint through briefing, judgment, and EAJA petition.

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Case Screening

I read every decision I am asked to look at and give a clear answer, including when the answer is that I do not think the appeal should be filed. You get that answer promptly, with my reasons, so you have time to pursue other options.

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Co-Counsel & Referral Arrangements

If you have a claimant whose Appeals Council request has been denied and you do not take these to federal court, send me three things — the ALJ decision, the Appeals Council denial, and the administrative hearing record. I need all three to tell you anything useful. Any co-counsel or fee arrangement is worked out openly and disclosed to the client under Ohio RPC 1.5(e).

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EAJA Fee Recovery

On a successful appeal, Equal Access to Justice Act fees are sought from the government, and I handle 406(b) court approval of contingent fees if the Social Security Administration later awards past-due benefits.

The Method

Six questions, in order.

1 Requirement What rule required the adjudicator to act? 2 Failure What did the decision actually do, or fail to do? 3 Proof What in the record establishes it? 4 Foreclosure What is the Commissioner's strongest lawful 5 Harm What finding could change? 6 Remedy What relief does the defect support? Asked of every candidate error, in order, before anything is drafted. An error that cannot answer all six is not yet a federal-court argument.
What the courts did

Remand is the outcome. An award is not.

13,587 federal-court Social Security disability decisions · fiscal year 2025 Remand 65% Deny 30% Dismiss 5% Allowance 1% A federal court that acts on one of these cases usually sends it back. It almost never awards benefits outright. Source: Social Security Administration, Fiscal Year 2025 Workload Data: Disability Decisions. Dispositions only. The figures are the agency’s and total 101 percent because of rounding.
The Difference

Inside knowledge.
Applied from the outside.

Before returning to private practice, I served as a Senior Attorney Advisor with the Social Security Administration. That experience changes how I read ALJ decisions — and what I do with them in federal court.

How ALJ Decisions Are Built

I know what a properly constructed decision looks like from the inside — which means I can identify precisely when one falls short of the legal standard, not just argue in general terms that it does.

Where Template Language Fails

Many ALJ decisions use boilerplate that passes casual review but fails meaningful judicial scrutiny. I recognize template language and know how to frame it as the articulation failure it is.

How the Agency Defends Its Cases

I understand how the government constructs its responsive brief — and where those briefs make arguments the ALJ never made, which is a Chenery problem worth looking for.

Reading a Decision Against the Record

My approach is to identify the specific legal or regulatory issue in the decision, connect it to the administrative record, and explain clearly why the issue matters.

The Process

Simple. Transparent.
No surprises.

1

Send the Decision

Send me three things: the ALJ decision, the Appeals Council denial letter, and the administrative hearing record. No fee. No commitment on either side.

2

An Honest Read

I read the decision against the record, identify the strongest available issues, and tell you what I see — including when I do not think an argument is strong enough to pursue.

3

Moving Quickly

If I take the case, it moves immediately. The sixty-day filing deadline is absolute, and I work to a target well inside it.

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Full Representation

From complaint through briefing, judgment, and EAJA petition, with you informed at every step.

For Attorneys

A federal resource
for your practice.

Many Social Security disability practitioners have clients who have exhausted their administrative remedies and are asking about federal court. If you do not take those cases yourself, I can — and the client stays yours.

What you keep.

How it would work.

I would rather tell you a case is not worth filing than take one that is not. If I say an appeal has federal potential, that is a judgment I will stand behind.


Discuss a Referral
For Attorneys

Questions you
are likely to have.

Do I lose the client?
No. A federal appeal is one proceeding. If the court remands, the case returns to the agency and you handle it from there. The client remains yours throughout.

How are you paid?
The claimant pays nothing up front. On a successful appeal I seek Equal Access to Justice Act fees from the government, and 406(b) approval from the court if the agency later awards past-due benefits. The administrative fees that follow a remand are yours.

How long do I have?
Sixty days from the Appeals Council denial, plus five days for mailing. That is less time than it sounds — the record has to be read and the complaint filed inside it. Time matters more than anything else here. Send the decision and the hearing record as soon as the denial arrives, with room to work. If you are close to the deadline, say so when you call and I will tell you straight away whether I can take it.

What happens if you say no?
You get a clear answer and my reasons, and you get them fast — which is why the sixty days matter. A no from me is not a verdict on the case; it is one reading of whether the decision contains an error a federal court can act on.

What do you actually look for?
Six things, in order — the duty the decision had to meet, what it failed to do, whether the record proves it, what the Commissioner will answer, whether correcting it could change a finding, and what relief the defect supports. The method is set out in the free one-page aid below.

About

Desmond Griswold

Desmond Griswold

I have been practicing Social Security disability law since 1993.

Before returning to private practice, I served as a Senior Attorney Advisor with the Social Security Administration. In that role, I worked inside the agency reviewing and advising on Social Security disability decisions and the legal standards that govern them.

I know what a properly constructed decision looks like from the inside. That is a useful place to start from when the question is whether a particular decision falls short of what the governing rule required — not in a general sense, but in the specific, articulable way a federal court can act on.

I would rather decline a case than file one that cannot survive review, and I say so plainly when that is my reading.

Experience

Social Security Disability Attorney
Since 1993

Prior Government Service

Senior Attorney Advisor
Social Security Administration

Bar Admission

Ohio Bar No. 0061197

Federal Court

U.S. District Court
Northern District of Ohio

Location

North Olmsted, Ohio
Serving the greater Cleveland area

Forthcoming · December 2026

Building Social Security Disability Appeals That Survive Review:
A National Method for Federal-Court Brief Writing

Learn the Six Moves — Requirement, Failure, Proof, Foreclosure, Harm, and Remedy — and download the free one-page practice aid.

Explore the Book Get the One-Page Aid

Want to know when the book is available?

Leave your email address and I’ll notify you when it is published.

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Contact

Request a case review.
No charge. No obligation.

Phone
(216) 759-7529
Email
[email protected]
Address
24101 Mastick Road
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Court
U.S. District Court
Northern District of Ohio

To request a case review: Call or email with the client's name and the date on the Appeals Council denial letter. I will ask you to send the ALJ decision, the denial letter, and the administrative hearing record.

I will respond promptly. If I cannot take the case, I will tell you so and give you my reasons, while you still have room to explore other options.

The 60-day deadline is absolute. Please do not wait until the last week to reach out. If you are within 20 days of the deadline, say so when you call.

Griswold Legal, LLC is a Social Security disability practice. This website does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.