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NMP Newsletter
Do you only receive Sheri Abrams' monthly newsletter that focuses on Disability Issues?
Please consider also signing up to receive Needham Mitnick & Pollack's very informative monthly newsletter that focuses on Estate Planning & Elder Law Issues.
If you would like to receive both newsletters please follow the directions to update your profile by clicking here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS!
The Attorneys of NMP will be participating in the JCC of Northern Virginia's 6th Annual Positive Aging Fair on November 21, 2013 starting at 8:30 AM. The fair comprises interactive and informative programs promoting active aging through healthy lifestyles that help us live longer, more independently and more positively. The fair is geared for Northern Virginians who are in their 50s and older. The JCC is located at 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031. Visit www.jccnv.org for more information and to register. | |
NMP Ranked as Best Law Firm!
Needham Mitnick & Pollack has been ranked in the 2014 "Best Law Firms" list by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®in the following area:
Metropolitan Awards
- Tier 1, Washington DC, Elder Law
Firms included in the 2014 "Best Law Firms" list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.
The 2014 Edition of "Best Law Firms" includes rankings in 74 national practice areas and 120 metropolitan-based practice areas.
The U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" rankings, for the fourth consecutive year, are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.
Clients and peers were asked to evaluate firms based on the following criteria: responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, integrity and civility, as well as whether they would refer a matter to the firm and/or consider the firm a worthy competitor.
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Source: Reprinted from the November 2013 Newsletter of Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law, Needham Mitnick & Pollack, PLC
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Welcome to our monthly newsletter.
These monthly newsletters are designed to provide useful information on Disability Law & Issues with a special emphasis on Social Security Disability & SSI benefits and Special Needs Trusts & Planning.
You may have been added to our e-mail newsletter mailing list if you are a client, business associate, a Facebook friend, a Linked-In connection, or another professional contact of Sheri R. Abrams, Attorney at Law or the Law Firm of Needham Mitnick & Pollack, plc.
You may unsubscribe by clicking on the link at the end of this e-mail.
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Social Security Disability, Retirement & SSI Benefits To Increase In 2014 |
 The Social Security Administration has announced that monthly payments will increase by 1.5 percent in 2014 for those people who receive Social Security Disability, Social Security Retirement & Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
This automatic adjustment known as COLA is intended to account for higher cost-of-living and is triggered by law when inflation goes up.
The increase will take effect starting December 31st for SSI recipients and will begin in January for Social Security Disability and Retirement recipients.
With the increase, maximum SSI benefits will rise from $710 to $721 per month for an individual and from $1,066 to $1,082 per month for a couple.
Some states, however, add to their SSI amounts, so residents of these states will receive over the maximum amount of SSI benefits.
In addition, the following will also increase:
The Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) amount will increase from $1,040 to $1,070 per month;
The amount of earnings that trigger a trial work period month will increase from $750 to $770 per month; and
The maximum Social Security Retirement or Disability benefit that can be paid will increase from $2,533 to $2,642 per month.
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New DOT Rules Make Flying Easier for Passengers with Disabilities | |
 On November 4, 2013, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), in its ongoing effort to ensure equal access to air transportation for all travelers, is requiring airline websites and automated airport kiosks to be accessible to passengers with disabilities.
In addition, DOT will allow airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in a cabin compartment on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, an option that will ensure that two manual, folding wheelchairs can be transported at a time.
The new rules are part of DOT's continuing implementation of the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986.
Under the new websites-and-kiosks rule, covered airlines are required within two years to make pages of their websites that contain core travel information and services accessible to persons with disabilities, and to make all of their web pages accessible within three years. Websites are required to meet the standards for accessibility contained in the widely accepted Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The requirement applies to U.S. and foreign airlines with websites marketing air transportation to U.S. consumers for travel within, to or from the United States.
The rule also requires ticket agents to disclose and offer web-based discount fares to customers unable to use their sites due to a disability starting within 180 days after the rule's effective date. Airlines are already required to provide equivalent service for consumers who are unable to use inaccessible websites. Under the new rule, airlines must also offer equivalent service to passengers with disabilities who are unable to use their websites even if the websites meet the WCAG accessibility standards.
In addition, any automated kiosks installed at U.S. airports for services -- such as printing boarding passes and baggage tags -- must be accessible to passengers with disabilities until at least 25 percent of all kiosks at each airport location are accessible. Even if no new kiosks are installed, 25 percent of kiosks at each airport location must be accessible within 10 years. The standards for accessible kiosks are based on those set by the U.S. Department of Justice for ATM and fare machines in its 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act rule as well as the Section 508 standards for self-contained closed products, such as copiers.
DOT's wheelchair rule provides airlines with more flexibility because it permits airlines to transport passenger wheelchairs by strapping them across a row of seats using a strap kit that complies with applicable safety standards, in addition to stowing them in a closet or similar compartment. In 2008, DOT issued a rule prohibiting airlines from using the seat-strapping method on new aircraft as an alternative to stowing the manual wheelchair in a closet or similar compartment. In that same rule, DOT allowed the use of a seat-strapping method on existing aircraft. Based on a fuller evaluation of the costs and benefits, DOT has now revised its position to also allow the use of seat-strapping on new aircraft subject to certain conditions. For example, if an airline chooses to use the seat-strapping method to stow a wheelchair, it must transport two wheelchairs in the cabin if requested unless stowing the second wheelchair would displace other passengers.
If an airline chooses to use a closet to stow a wheelchair, then it will still be required to stow only one wheelchair in the cabin. However, in this case it must install a sign or placard prominently on the closet indicating that a wheelchair and other assistive devices are to be stowed in this area with priority over other items brought onto the aircraft by other passengers or crew, including crew luggage.
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Sheri Abrams' Book "Don't Gamble With Your Social Security Disability Benefits--What Every Virginia Resident Needs To Know To Win A Social Security Disability Case" Is Available | |
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Now Available For Nook & Kindle | |
"Don't Gamble With Your Social Security Disability Benefits--What Every Virginia Resident Needs To Know To Win A Social Security Disability Case" is now available for the Nook here.
and the Kindle here.
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OUR OFFICE LOCATION | |
The law firm of Needham Mitnick & Pollack, PLC, is located at:
400 S. Maple Avenue
Suite 210
Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 536-7778
This is in downtown Falls Church and the office has plenty of free and accessible parking.
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REFERRALS | 
If you know of someone who could use my legal services or any of the other members of the law firm of Needham Mitnick & Pollack, PLC, please forward to him/her this e-mail newsletter or give him/her our telephone number: (703) 536-7778.
We provide legal services in the areas of Social Security Disability Law, Elder Law, Wills and Trusts, Probate, Trust Administration, Powers of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, Guardianships, Long Term Care Planning, Disability Planning, Medicaid Eligibility, Veterans Benefits and Special Needs Trusts.
If you, or someone you know, is involved with an educational event or support group that would benefit from a presentation on any of the areas of law for which we provide legal services, please call us at (703) 536-7778. |
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