Jacksonville Attorney's Michael Sullivan and Ruth Ann Hepler discuss the Social Security disability application process in Florida on the radio show Advocate for Success. Part 1 of

Below is the transcribed dialog from Attorney's Michael Sullivan and Ruth Ann Hepler's Guest Spot on Advocate for Success, a local radio show.

This content can also be found in our Social Security FAQ section as video segments.

“Cutting Through the Red Tape, Top 10 Things All Florida Social Security Disability Applicants Should Know”-

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Advocate for Success with your host, Elizabeth Vardas, on ABC 1320 WBOB, the show for and about the disability community that provides you information and knowledge about important topics, resources, and organizations. To call in or find out more, call (904) 854-1320. That’s 854-1320.

MS. VARDAS: Welcome to Advocate for Success on this Sunday afternoon. I’m Elizabeth Vardas, your host, and today we have in our studio Mr. Michael Sullivan and Ruth Ann Hepler of the law firm Sullivan and Hepler, and they’re going to be talking about a book they wrote called “Cutting Through the Red Tape, Top 10 Things All Florida Social Security Disability Applicants Should Know” when going to seek to get those benefits, and I just want to welcome you both to the studio today.

MS. HEPLER: Thanks.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you.

MS. VARDAS: Thanks for coming in. So you’ve written this book, and that’s mainly what your primary practice consists of; is that right?

MR. SULLIVAN: Yeah. We both do Social Security Disability law. I also have a workers’ compensation claimants practice, and Ruth Ann has a criminal defense practice as well.

MS. VARDAS: Okay. I was going to ask if you would first tell the listeners a little bit about yourselves so they can get to know who you are, and then you can start about telling us how to apply.

MS. HEPLER: Okay. I guess I’ll go first since you’re looking at me. I grew up -- born and raised in Panama City over in the panhandle of Florida, so I’m a native Floridian. I did my undergraduate at the University of Missouri in journalism and then decided to come back home to Florida where it’s warm. For law school I went to the University of Florida. Go Gators.

MS. VARDAS: Go Gators.

MS. HEPLER: I’m married to Carey coming up on 19 years now. We have three daughters: Janie, who’s 16; Patti, who’s 14; and Sally, who’s 13. We actually went over to China in 2001 to adopt Sally, so she has been with us for eight years now. And I am a charter member and active member of the San Marco Rotary Club.

MS. VARDAS: Cool. All right. How about you, Mr. Sullivan?

MR. SULLIVAN: I was born and raised in Boston, the greater Boston area.

MS. VARDAS: I can’t tell.

MR. SULLIVAN: Really? No, southern Georgia; no, Boston area. I was educated at Boston College for undergraduate, attended Suffolk University for law school. After law school I moved down here to Florida. I began practicing at the Public Defender’s office, where I initially met Ruth Ann many years ago.
I am married as well. My wife is Joan. I have a little girl named Hannah. I have been in practice on my own since 1995 doing principally workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability law.

MS. VARDAS: Very good. Tell us about how you decided to write this book. What started that off?

MR. SULLIVAN: Well, what started the process was that a lot of times you start out with a proposition. You know a lot of Social Security law. And the things that you take for granted, you think maybe the general population is aware of, and that’s just simply not the case.

Continued in Part 2