Carolyn Burchett
Staff attorney, SSDI and SSI
Carolyn takes SSDI and SSI claims, including children's claims, from the first application through the hearing.
Carolyn came to the clinic from a hospital social work office, and she brings the habit of asking what a day is actually like. She builds claims around that answer: what a parent does before school, what a welder can no longer lift, what the evenings cost. She handles children's SSI, where a teacher's note can matter as much as a doctor's.
Takes
- Children's SSI
- SSDI applications
- Hearings
Credentials
Carolyn's admissions and schooling
Bar admissions
Tennessee
2006
Courts
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
Education
J.D., Nashville School of Law
2006
B.S., Tennessee State University
2002
Languages
English
How Carolyn came to this work
Carolyn spent several years helping families through discharge planning before she went to night law school. She noticed that the families who did best were the ones who got clear instructions early, so she writes hers in plain words and checks that they landed.
At the clinic she keeps a short list on her desk of the three questions she asks every new client about daily life. She says the list has changed her cases more than any case law has.