A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT Greetings NADR Colleagues-
We’ve received over 500 submissions so far and will always accept more. The more received, the better. The only way to gain SSA’s ear on a problem is to show that it is widespread and not localized to a particular office. Without actual numbers we cannot show this.
I want to start off this message by thanking former Director at Large Melissa Smith, for her 3 ½ years of dedication and hard work as a board member for NADR. The webinar series she hosted has been a great success. She recently stepped down from the board and will be greatly missed. I am very excited to announce that I have appointed Dr. Carletta Griffin to fill out the remainder of Melissa’s term. Carletta has been a long-time supporter and very vocal member of NADR. She currently hosts the very popular monthly NADR Connect series where takes on various topics to help guide our members to be more efficient in the world of disability practice. NADR Connect is usually the 2nd Thursday evening each month so please log in and see what it’s all about!
As we are getting ready for the 2022 Annual Law Conference in Puerto Rico, I can’t help but gain a sense of relief that we are able to once again hold a full in person conference for the first time since 2019 in San Antonio. We’ve all missed the irreplaceable aspect of the in-person experience that is a NADR Conference. There is so much to learn from the sessions but the personal connections we all make face to face are just as important. I hope to see everyone there!
Since I was named president of NADR, I have dedicated the majority of my focus on 2 areas that I feel are most important to our membership. 1. An increase in the fee cap that has been set at $6,000 since 2009 and 2. Looking into the bigger problems that face our members every day including timely payment of approved fees. The fee cap discussions continue with SSA senior leadership as other efforts undertaken to achieve this goal. Over the past few months, NADR VP Chris Mazzulli and I have started an effort to gain SSA’s attention to the widespread problem of representative fee payments or lack thereof. We asked for your help by submitting a list of your payments that have not been timely processed by the payment centers and local offices. NADR NEWS
Michael Wener, ADR NADR President
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FIRST QUARTER 2022