After Advocacy, Duke Law Students Win New Hearing for Client

A client had been denied disability benefits

This is a summary of a story on Duke Law.

Duke Law School’s Health Justice Clinic has secured a new hearing for a client denied Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits despite living with lifelong effects of perinatal HIV infection. The new hearing follows years of advocacy by clinic faculty and student-attorneys, who argued that the client’s medical condition continues to substantially limit her ability to work.

The client, who was born with HIV and lost both parents to AIDS-related complications, had received SSI benefits since 2016. In 2022, the Social Security Administration determined that she was no longer disabled and terminated her benefits. The Health Justice Clinic took on the appeal, gathering extensive medical records and testimony from healthcare professionals and social workers to demonstrate the ongoing physical and cognitive impacts of her condition.

After an administrative law judge upheld the denial, Clinical Supervising Attorney Hannah Demeritt and student-attorney Brendan Genaw appealed to federal district court. They argued that the ruling failed to properly consider the medical evidence and applied incorrect legal standards.

Following the appeal, an attorney for the Social Security Administration agreed to send the case back for further review, which led to a new hearing before the same judge. If the decision is reversed, the client could receive several years of back benefits.

The case also highlights challenges within the Social Security system, including administrative errors and delays that prolonged the appeal process. Student-attorney Yasmine Abi-Hanna, who now represents the client, spent hours on the phone trying to untangle misfilings and mixups.

Reflecting on the experience, she said, “I don’t think that a lot of people realize that these government safety nets are actually incredibly hard to access.”

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