One VE Cross to Rule Them All – NOSSCR 2026 Fall National Conference – Track I (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Theodore Norwood, Attorney | Integrated Benefits, Inc. and Pontello, Bressler, Norwood, & Associates

Ted Norwood is a attorney at Integrated Benefits, Inc. and Pontello, Bressler, Norwood, & Associates.

• Education & Credentials

He graduated from St. Louis University and the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law and has been licensed in Missouri since 2007.

• Recognition & Leadership

He serves as Chief Legal Officer of Integrated Benefits, Inc., where he has represented Social Security Disability claimants in every state and handled hearings in 48 states and Puerto Rico.

• Professional Involvement

He has also been a long time NOSSCR member including service on the Board of Directors and numerous committees.

• Experience

He has experience in administrative practice and several federal courts, including the 10th Circuit.

Meghan Gallo, Senior Partner | GCC Law Firm

Megan Gallo is a NOSSCR Board Member for the 8th Circuit.

• Education & Credentials

She earned her undergraduate business degree from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2010, earning Dean’s List recognition. She is licensed to practice before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Recognition & Leadership

She is recognized nationally in Social Security disability law, particularly on Step Five vocational testimony, serves on NOSSCR’s Policy and Governance Committees, and has mentored NOSSCR attorneys for several years.

• Professional Involvement

She has also been one of the leading presenters and practitioners addressing statistical deficiencies in vocational evidence.

• Experience

She is an experienced administrative and federal court attorney from Arkansas.

David Chermol, Founding and Lead Partner | Chermol & Fishman, LLC

David Chermol is a former OGC attorney with a national litigation practice in SSA cases, representing thousands of claimants before the agency and federal courts.

• Recognition & Leadership

During his decade at SSA, he served as the Commissioner’s senior disability litigator for Mid-Atlantic Region III at the GS-15 level and received two Excellence in Service Awards and a General Counsel’s citation.

• Professional Involvement

He has provided national and regional training to SSA’s administrative law judges on issuing legally defensible decisions and, in coordination with the Department of Justice, trained SSA attorneys on effective appellate advocacy. He served as SSA’s lead author, presenter, and editor for the 2006 and 2007 Pennsylvania continuing legal education courses on disability appeals in the federal courts, and he is a member of NOSSCR and the National Association of Disability Representatives.

• Experience

From 1997 to 2007, he was an Assistant Regional Counsel for the Social Security Administration’s Office of the General Counsel in Philadelphia, serving as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Commissioner of Social Security in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of Delaware. He personally litigated or developed litigation strategy in most of the major disability cases resulting in published Third and Fourth Circuit decisions during that period.

SESSION 1 – One VE Cross to Rule Them All | 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Since SSR 24-3p, putting together a comprehensive cross examination of the vocational witness has been harder. We will provide an approach that should cover most instances, combining several of the popular current approaches. We will provide guidance for before, during, and after the hearing. We’ll also review how to use the information and why it is important.