WC & SSD Offset – Why You Shouldn’t Wait For or Ignore the Notice of Award – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track II (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Sharmine Persaud, Esq., Social Security Disability, Workers’ Compensation & Veterans’ Benefits Attorney

Sharmine Persaud is a New York-based attorney whose practice is solely dedicated to representing injured and disabled individuals. Born and raised in London, England, she earned her undergraduate degree from Long Island University (1986) and her Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law (1989), and has been licensed to practice in New York since 1990. She has represented Social Security disability claimants since 1991, injured workers since 1994, and service-connected veterans and their families since 2009. Sharmine is admitted to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, and the Supreme Court of the United States. She has served as a NOSSCR Second Circuit Board Member and as Co-Chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Social Security Disability and Workers’ Compensation Committee.

• Education & Credentials

Sharmine holds a Bachelor’s degree from Long Island University (1986) and a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law (1989). She has been admitted to practice in New York since 1990 and is admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims (admitted December 4, 2012), and the Supreme Court of the United States (admitted June 2001). Her multi-court admissions across Social Security, veterans’ benefits, and workers’ compensation forums reflect a career of broad and sustained federal practice on behalf of injured and disabled clients.

• Recognition & Leadership

Sharmine was elected to serve as NOSSCR’s Second Circuit Board Member from 2011 to 2013, reflecting her standing among Social Security disability practitioners in the region. She also served as Co-Chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Social Security Disability and Workers’ Compensation Committee from 2009 to 2011 — a dual leadership role that reflects her expertise across both areas of disability and injury law. Her admissions to the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, combined with more than three decades of dedicated advocacy for injured workers, disabled claimants, and veterans, represent a career of exceptional breadth and sustained professional distinction.

• Professional Involvement

Sharmine is an active member of NOSSCR and served as the organization’s elected Second Circuit Board Member from 2011 to 2013. She is also a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, where she led the Social Security Disability and Workers’ Compensation Committee as Co-Chair from 2009 to 2011. Her practice encompasses Social Security disability representation from initial application through federal court, workers’ compensation advocacy, and veterans’ benefits representation — three distinct but complementary areas of law united by her commitment to the injured and disabled individuals she has served throughout her career.

• Experience

Sharmine Persaud has devoted her entire legal career — spanning more than three decades — exclusively to representing injured and disabled individuals. She has handled Social Security disability claims since 1991, workers’ compensation matters since 1994, and veterans’ benefits cases since 2009, building one of Long Island’s most comprehensive disabled-individual practices. Her federal court admissions span the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Second Circuit, the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, and the Supreme Court of the United States, reflecting the full arc of her advocacy from administrative hearings to the nation’s highest court. Her NOSSCR board service, bar association leadership, and decades of consistent client advocacy reflect a career defined by unwavering commitment to the people who need legal representation most.

Erin Stackenwalt, Esq., Partner | Troutman & Troutman, P.C.

Erin Stackenwalt is a partner at Troutman & Troutman, P.C. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she has practiced Social Security disability law for 20 years. She became a partner in 2021 alongside firm founders Gayle Troutman and Steve Troutman. Her practice is exclusively focused on representing claimants before the Social Security Administration and on federal court appellate advocacy of Social Security claims. Erin earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma and her Juris Doctor with highest honor from the University of Tulsa College of Law (2006), where she was recognized with multiple awards for academic excellence and service. She is admitted to practice before the Eastern, Western, and Northern Districts of Oklahoma, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States, and is a sustaining member of NOSSCR.

• Education & Credentials

Erin holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctor, with highest honor, from the University of Tulsa College of Law (2006). At Tulsa Law, she received the CALI Award of Excellence in Contracts, Constitutional Law, and Conflict of Laws; was voted Outstanding Senior Staff Member of the Energy Law Journal; was a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity; and was awarded the Order of the Curule Chair for outstanding academic achievement and service to the Law School. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Northern Districts of Oklahoma, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States — a breadth of federal admissions that reflects the appellate depth of her Social Security practice.

• Recognition & Leadership

Erin’s academic record at the University of Tulsa College of Law was marked by consistent distinction: graduating with highest honor, earning three CALI Awards of Excellence, receiving the Order of the Curule Chair, and being recognized as Outstanding Senior Staff Member of the Energy Law Journal. Her elevation to partner at Troutman & Troutman in 2021 — after 15 years with the firm — reflects the deep professional trust Gayle and Steve Troutman have placed in her expertise and leadership. Her Supreme Court admission and her Tenth Circuit appellate practice reflect the highest tier of federal litigation credentials, and her sustaining NOSSCR membership reflects a sustained commitment to the national disability advocacy community.

• Professional Involvement

Erin’s professional involvement is concentrated in Social Security disability representation and federal appellate advocacy, with a practice exclusively dedicated to claimants before the SSA and in federal court. As a sustaining member of NOSSCR, she maintains active engagement with the national organization for Social Security claimants’ representatives. Her admissions to all three Oklahoma federal districts and the Tenth Circuit reflect a practice with broad jurisdictional reach across the region, and her Supreme Court admission speaks to the appellate ambition and capability that define her advocacy at Troutman & Troutman.

• Experience

Erin Stackenwalt has practiced Social Security disability law at Troutman & Troutman, P.C. for 20 years, building a career of exceptional focus and depth in a single, specialized area of federal law. Her practice is exclusively devoted to SSA claimant representation and federal court appellate advocacy — a concentration that has produced the kind of deep expertise that comes only from sustained, single-minded commitment to one area of practice. Admitted to all three Oklahoma federal districts, the Tenth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States, she handles the full appellate arc of Social Security disability litigation at the highest levels. Her 2021 partnership reflects two decades of professional excellence, and her honors law school record — capped by a highest honor degree, three CALI Awards, and the Order of the Curule Chair — provides the academic foundation for a career built on rigorous, precise, and appellate-minded advocacy.

I. WC & SSD Offset – Why You Shouldn’t Wait for or Ignore the Notice of Award | 11:00am – 12:00pm

How best to prepare your client and your file for SSD & WC offset. Obtaining the client’s Benefit Estimate and getting the FO/DO to provide you with the ICERS, DEQY & SEQY. If you win your client’s case, how will you explain the offset between SSD & WC? If you knew your client’s SSD benefits were totally offset by WC, would you take the case? How do you explain to your client his/her children will not receive AUX benefits due to an offset? What about child support, you will get paid but your client will not.