Why hire a local attorney?

We have seen a proliferation of national firms taking Social Security cases.  Are they better than a local attorney?  The answer is no.  An attorney who practices locally knows the judges with whom he is dealing.  All judges have different ideas about the law and about different kinds of evidence.  Second, if your local attorney has done a good job in the past, he has a good reputation with the judges.  It is a sad fact that all the national firms have terrible reputations with judges.  They will typically send a junior attorney or paralegal out the day of your case, who will meet with you for the first time at the hearing.  I have heard of many cases where they did not even have the medical file.  When you call their offices, you will never talk to the same person twice.  They typically hire a bunch of low-wage unskilled employees to answer their phones.  It is a racket.  And they charge the same fees.