It’s Not Just the IQ Score – Developing and Winning Cases for Claimants with Borderline Intelligence – Track II [Day 3] (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

J. Asha Sharma | Disability Partners PLLC

Asha’s 30+ years of experience as a lawyer help her to be an effective advocate for her clients. She has been an attorney since 1991 and has practiced Social Security Disability law since 2005. She has handled more than a thousand Social Security Disability hearings. Asha has done numerous presentations about the disability process. She is a member of the National Organization for Social Security Claims Representatives and has presented to this organization multiple times. She was co-chair of the Social Security Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association.

Asha has had a wide range of experience in the law. For ten years, she worked for the Minnesota Department of Human Services in disability health, children’s mental health, and other areas. She was an Adjunct Professor at the William Mitchell School of Law from 2004 to 2006.

Asha graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was an editor at the Minnesota Law Review. Upon graduation, she clerked for the Minnesota 3rd District Court (Rochester, MN) and later at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Paul McGrath | Disability Partner PLLC

Paul McGrath has worked in disability law since 2011, when he first started advocating for people with disabilities as a law intern through Albany Law School’s Civil Rights and Disability Law Clinic. During his work in the law clinic, Paul provided protection and advocacy services for people with profound disabilities in institutionalized settings, for which he earned the outstanding clinical student award. After graduating with honors from Albany Law School in New York, Paul came on board with Disability Partners while also working as a volunteer attorney with Legal Aid’s Minnesota Disability Law Center.

I. Challenges in cases involving borderline intelligence and cognitive limitations | 12:00pm – 12:20pm

II. Strategies for developing evidence of low adaptive functioning | 12:20pm – 12:40pm

III. Approaches for arguing listings and pursuing appeals in cognitive impairment cases | 12:40pm – 1:00pm