Gillette Law Group, PLLC

08/25/2026

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🎯 CO****LE FOR A GREAT CAUSE! 🎯
Mark your calendars for September 12, 2026 and come out for our Co****le Tournament at TJ’s Sports Tavern in Poquoson supporting the Center for Child & Family Services!
Whether you’re ready to toss some bags or simply want to support a great cause, there’s a place for you! ❤️💙
🏆 Want to PLAY?
Join us for a fun blind-draw tournament!
💰 $20 per person
🚪 Doors open at 11 AM
🎯 Teams will be drawn at 12 PM
🤝 Want to SPONSOR?
Become a $100 sponsor and help us make this event a success while showing your support for children and families in our community.
🎁 Want to DONATE?
We’re also looking for businesses and community members willing to donate an item or gift certificate for our raffle prizes. Every donation helps us raise more for this important cause!
Come play. Come cheer. Come support. Come be part of something that makes a difference!
📩 message us if you’d like to become a $100 sponsor, or donate a raffle item.
Let’s come together and support our community! ❤️💙

08/16/2026

A company that operates a vast nationwide network of automated cameras that record the license plate numbers and other characteristics of all passing vehicles every day is making changes to its platform.

08/15/2026

Step 3: What the Blue Book Actually Requires

Let's talk about Step 3, the step many people misunderstand. 📘

At Step 3, Social Security checks your condition against the Blue Book, officially called the Listing of Impairments. It describes conditions that Social Security considers severe enough to prevent work. Sounds simple. It is not.

The name of your condition is just the starting point.

Each Listing spells out exact medical findings that have to appear in your records. Specific test results. Lab values. How often symptoms happen. Documented treatment failures.

Take epilepsy. Having epilepsy is not enough. The Listing requires a certain number of seizures, of a certain type, over a set period of time, and it has to be despite following your prescribed treatment. The diagnosis opens the door. The details decide what happens next.

Meeting a Listing versus equaling one.

"Meeting" a Listing means your medical evidence matches every required element. Every one. Miss a single piece and you do not meet it, no matter how sick you are. That feels harsh, and honestly, it is.

"Equaling" a Listing is a separate legal path. It means your condition, or your conditions taken together, is at least equal in severity and duration to a Listing even though it does not match the exact criteria. Equaling is decided using medical judgment, and it has to be backed by evidence. A doctor simply saying you "can't work" will not carry it.

Here is the part worth holding onto. 💙

Failing to meet or equal a Listing does not end your claim. Many people who get approved qualify at the later steps, where Social Security looks at whether your limitations rule out your past work and any other jobs.

The Listings are a shortcut to approval. They are not the only door in.

If you were told your condition "doesn't meet the Listing," that is not the end of the story. Call us at (757) 220-4529 and we will look at where your claim really stands.

General information, not legal advice.

08/07/2026

The SSA 5-Step Process

Ever wonder how Social Security actually decides if someone qualifies for disability benefits? It is not a guess, and it is not random. Every single claim goes through the same five questions, in the same order. It is called the sequential evaluation process. 🧩

Here is what those five steps look like in plain language.

Step 1: Are you working?

Social Security looks at your earnings first. In 2026, if you earn more than $1,690 a month (or $2,830 a month if you are statutorily blind), that usually counts as “substantial gainful activity,” and your claim stops here. If you earn less than that, you move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Is your condition severe?

Your condition has to seriously limit your ability to do basic work tasks like standing, lifting, remembering, or concentrating. It also has to have lasted, or be expected to last, at least 12 months, or be expected to result in death. A short-term injury will not qualify.

Step 3: Does your condition meet a listing?

Social Security keeps a book of impairments (often called the Blue Book) with specific medical criteria for each one. If your condition matches a listing, or is medically equal to one, you are approved right here. If not, you keep going.

Step 4: Can you do work you have done before?

Next they figure out what you can still do despite your limits. This is your “residual functional capacity.” Then they ask whether you could go back to a job you held in the past five years. If the answer is yes, the claim is denied. If no, one more step.

Step 5: Can you do any other kind of work?

This is the last question, and here the burden shifts to Social Security. They look at your age, education, past job skills, and what you can physically and mentally handle. If there is other work out there you could reasonably do, the claim is denied. If there is not, you are found disabled. ✅

Understanding these steps helps you know what evidence actually matters, and why a strong medical record makes such a difference.

You should not have to figure this out alone. Call Gillette Law Group, PLLC, at (757) 220-4529 and talk to a real person who does this every day. We will tell you honestly where your claim stands.

07/30/2026

Quick safety tip for anyone spending time in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries:

If you get a cut or wound, get out of the water and rinse it right away with soap and clean water. Cover it with a clean waterproof bandage, and avoid getting it back in the water until it heals.

The Chesapeake Bay and parts of its tributaries are brackish water, so open wounds can be at higher risk for infection. Watch for redness, swelling, worsening pain, drainage, or fever, and get medical care promptly if any of those show up.

Stay safe out there!

He cut his arm on a crabpot. Within hours, a physician feared he was in imminent danger of losing his arm — and maybe his life — from a Vibrio vulnificus infection. https://www.bayjournal.com/news/climate_change/vibrio-on-the-rise-as-climate-warms-the-chesapeake-bay/article_a4c3f53b-4949-4314-b099-738fa97fde42.html

07/25/2026

There's a difference between being disabled and proving you qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

You may know you can't work. Your family knows it. Your body reminds you every single day. But Social Security doesn't see any of that. They see paper.

Your case is built mostly on two things: your medical records, and what your treating providers say about your limitations. Records show what's wrong. Provider opinions explain what it actually keeps you from doing, like how long you can sit, stand, lift, focus, or stay on task through a full workday.

That's why it matters to keep seeing your doctors, be honest about your bad days, and make sure your struggles get written down. If it isn't in the file, Social Security acts like it never happened.

You're not being asked to prove you're suffering. You're being asked to prove you can’t work consistently in the language they understand.

06/23/2026

Some patients are still receiving bills, nearly six months after a new Virginia law took effect eliminating out-of-pocket costs for certain services.

06/11/2026

A Virginia police department is warning drivers about a new way scammers are trying to rip off people when they fill their tanks: the gas pump screw scam.
MORE BELOW ⬇️

06/06/2026

Thank you to my friends at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers!

06/06/2026

United States military veterans, current military members and their families can get free World Cup 2026 tickets through a Bank of America, Vet Tix and FIFA partnership.

Read More: https://www.wavy.com/news/national/free-world-cup-tickets-for-u-s-military-vets-and-their-families/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WAVY_TV_10