Maria Laura Sigaud

Maria Laura Sigaud

• Morgan & Weisbrod LLP
• 11551 Forest Central Drive Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75243
• 214-373-3761
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I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and immigrated to the U.S. at an early age with my parents, both from a small town on the border of Paraguay and Argentina. I am fluent in Spanish and enjoy travelling to South America to visit my family.

For more than fourteen years, I have dedicated my practice to Social Security disability cases. In 2014-2015, I served as Vice President of the Dallas Association of Social Security Claimants Representatives (DASSCA) and served as President of the organization for the 2010-2011 term. At the May 2015 National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) conference in Washington DC, I was a presenter and met with legislators while there.   In 2010, I became Board Certified in Social Security Disability law by the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification. (http://nblsc.us/). In March, 2010, I was a presenter at a continuing legal education conference for the Fifth Circuit Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives. I am a sustaining member of NOSSCR, and a member of the American Bar Association. I am licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and I am also licensed in all four federal district courts of Texas.

As an undergraduate of Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, I studied English literature and found out I had a knack for research and writing.   I decided to apply those skills to the study of law and in 1999 I moved to Houston to attend law school at South Texas College of Law.  For the next three years, I studied full-time and clerked for a civil litigation firm handling cases in multiple areas of the law such as labor/employment, personal injury, and toxic torts.  I first became exposed to Social Security disability cases there. In 2003, I began my career as a Social Security disability lawyer. Initially, I thought I would eventually move on to immigration law, given my background as an immigrant. But I quickly found out that helping people with disabilities was not only  rewarding on a professional level, but on a personal one as well.

Languages:
Spanish
English

Education:

South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas, 2002 J.D.
Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX, 1996 B.A.

Professional Honors & Activities:

Chosen as a Super Lawyers “Rising Stars”, 2012-2013

Fifth Circuit Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives
Member

Dallas Area Social Security Claimants’ Attorneys (DASSCA)
2011 President

Dallas Area Social Security Claimants’ Attorneys (DASSCA)
2010 Vice President

National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR)
Member

Austin Community College Classified Employees Association, 1997 – 1999
Parliamentarian, Secretary

Texas State Bar Standing Committee on Disability Issues, 2009 – Present
Appointed Member

Hispanic Law Students Association (Vice President 2001-2002)

Presentations & Speeches:

2015 Washington D.C. National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives – co-presenter with Mike Kelly “Disrupting the Path to Denial.”

2016 Fifth Circuit Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives – co-presenter with Mike Kelly “Disrupting the Path to Denial”

Opinion Published on Expert Witnesses Appearing by Telephone at Hearings, NOSSCR Newsletter, October 2013.

Seminar Presentations in Social Security Disability Law: Four Examples of Vocational Expert Cross-Examination., Social Security Disability Law Forum, New York, NY June 8, 2007

Bar Admissions:

Texas, 2003
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas, 2004
U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, 2004
U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, 2008
U.S. District Court Western District of Texas, 2009

United States Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2015