Chronicle

Blog

Insights on ERE monitoring, disability firm operations, and SSD case management.

A case timeline showing review hours moved from the hearing date to the front of the case
AI & Technology

AI Tools for Disability Attorneys: What Actually Works

A working guide to AI tools for disability attorneys, organized by how much checking each one still needs and where that review time lands in the case.

A timeline with two bars: the firm's text message arrives early, and SSA's mail arrives well after it, with a phone, a calendar and an envelope marking the sequence
Product Updates

Introducing Chronicle Dispatch: Your Clients Hear It From You First

Recap of the Chronicle Dispatch launch: automated client texting on SSA events, a shared two-way inbox, form-by-form message control, the client portal, and answers on Clio, Filevine, Neos and DibCase integrations.

The same function report answered two ways: sparsely on the left with most answers left blank, fully on the right with every answer completed and the remarks section used
Industry Insights

How Much Should a Claimant Put on a Function Report? Workshop Recap with Maryjean Ellis

Maryjean Ellis on the SSA function report: how much to put on it, the first 48 hours after DDS issues it, why claimants should not use AI, and what belongs in the remarks section.

Three vantage points on one disability practice: a marketing lens, a claimant intake lens, and a case operations lens, all three spokes converging on the same firm
Industry Insights

Panel Recap: The Mid-Year Checkpoint on Disability Firm Growth

Panel recap. Three operators on what actually changed in disability firm growth in 2026: AI in paid search, the conversion problem hiding behind "leads are down," and why national SSA averages describe none of your cases.

A firm delegation tree: the owner above an operations layer, with case managers below and a knowledge base alongside
Industry Insights

How Large Disability Firms Are Trying to Grow Without Hiring

Large-firm SSD practitioners on case-manager ratios, the operations hire nobody has solved, offshore staffing structures, and building a firm knowledge base.

A solo practitioner holding every task, then the same work split between the owner and a first hire
Industry Insights

The First Real Hire: Small Disability Firms on Delegating Work They've Always Done Themselves

Small-firm SSD practitioners on sizing a first hire in full fee cases, why splitting a job creates office politics, probation that fails, and training that sticks.

A dense undifferentiated stream of SSA case events passing through a routing filter and emerging as three clean separate streams feeding email, a dashboard, and a calendar feed
Firm Operations

Notifications 201: Getting the Right SSA Alerts to the Right People

How disability firms tune Chronicle notifications: the seven categories, what following a case changes, and how follow rules route alerts by stage and caseload.

Repeated manual ERE logins ending in uncertainty, beside Chronicle checking every monitored case daily
Firm Operations

Why We Built Chronicle: The SSD Technology That Should Have Existed Years Ago

Chronicle exists because SSD practice technology was neglected for decades. Learn why we built full-lifecycle ERE monitoring and how 150+ SSD firms now run on it.

A fragmented disability practice and a connected one running the same caseload: one routes every record through a single case timeline, the other scatters it across spreadsheets, inboxes, and one person's memory
Firm Operations

Scale Without Strain: Is Your Disability Practice Ready to Grow?

Laura E. Kennedy on why growth in a disability practice is an operational question before it is a staffing one. Includes the six-question readiness check and the full replay.

Schematic of an automated step between an SSA event and the client, Disability Peers in Practice July 2026
Industry Insights

Client Communication at Large Disability Firms: Automation, Portals, and the SSA Self-Service Shift

Large-firm SSD practitioners on SSA's new claimant self-service push, stage videos, portal activation rates, phase-triggered messaging, and case manager load.

Schematic of scheduled client contact: a calendar at the centre of a hub-and-spoke diagram, Disability Peers in Practice July 2026
Industry Insights

Client Communication in a Small Disability Practice: What Actually Works

Small-firm SSD practitioners on communicating during the silent months, intake expectations, protecting the attorney calendar, and delivering a denial.

Hero image: A scorecard and magnifying glass held up against a row of software vendor screens, representing structured evaluation of legal software
Firm Operations

How to Evaluate Legal Software Before You Sign: A Buyer's Framework for Disability Firms

A buyer's framework for disability firms evaluating legal software: four scoring criteria, five demo questions, and the red flags that should end a demo. Full NOSSCR workshop recap.

Stay ahead on SSD practice

Workflow guides, ERE updates, training invites, and practice insights — free, straight to your inbox.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Join disability practices across the country

Free training invites, workflow guides, and industry reports.