John M. Driskill

In 2008 I applied for disability benefits because I was very sick and had been unable to work for some time. Because of ongoing medical treatment and no insurance my wife and I had fallen into considerable debt. Naturally, I was turned down and because I was depressed I just gave up. Later, out of... desperation I asked my brother-in-law, who is an attorney in Houston who he would recommend to challenge the S. S. Administration and that is when I met Mr John Driskill. Even though I had lawyers in my family (my children's grandfathers as well) and have generally had good experiences with attorneys I never thought that in the profession as a whole there was much ‘heart’ or compassion for their clients until I worked with Mr Driskill. I reapplied because I had let the six-month period expire and was turned down again. John Driskill then took my case and began to guide me through the appeal process. I had become even sicker over the two years which had passed from the start of my first application and quite literally almost died. I found myself facing one of the most conservative judges we could have drawn, and at the time, my disease was not one that is usually debilitating unless it reaches a certain stage. Suddenly while waiting for trial, a dangerous tumor was discovered and my doctor wanted to remove it right away. I was unbelievably stressed because I had waited so long for the trial and it would have to be postponed again if I went to surgery. It was a very tough and major operation and would be a long recovery. I told Mr Driskill I wanted to postpone the surgery and he didn't think it was wise because of the surgeon’s recommendations. I went ahead with it and all of the cancerous tissue was removed perfectly requiring no chemo or radiation. It was about five weeks before I could even get up but during that time Mr Driskill worked hard and used every ‘trick in the book’ to put documentation and testimony before the court. I was a business owner for several years and I know how easy it would have been for him to have just postponed the court date and set my case aside because there would have been other clients with pressing matters. But instead, he assessed the the situation and saw an opportunity to approach the Judge with information which could make the court understand the seriousness nature of my condition. He pleaded with the court to accept my petition for 100% disability status without even requiring me to show up and it was granted! I recognize there are relatively few people who can grasp what my wife and I went through (and of course she deserves her share of praise for her part, but that’s for a different forum) and what a relief it was to finally get the financial help we needed. For us it felt as if our lives had been saved in a way. And please don't think it was all about the money for John Driskill because I was amazed at how little they actually allow the attorneys to make on a social security disability case. To me, it seemed like chump-change :) for the amount of work he did. As melodramatic as I know it sounds, my wife and I were not any more fond of any of our own family members as we felt towards John and his staff (shout-out to Justin!) and we still feel the same way.