Albany, New York
Albany SSDI and SSI Lawyers for Upstate Disability Claims
Eight Social Security field offices, from Plattsburgh to Oneonta, send their disability hearings to one office on Corporate Woods Boulevard in Albany. Downard & Associates represents claimants in Albany, New York, and across that service area with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration and a hearing before an administrative law judge. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What We Handle for Albany-Area Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
An Albany claim can run alongside a second disability application. A member of the New York State and Local Retirement System may be applying for a disability retirement benefit on a separate form, with a separate decision and a separate appeal deadline.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review, and our appeals representation page explains the steps after a denial. Our New York disability lawyer page covers the state's SSI supplement and the other hearing offices in the state.
We have no Albany office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We handle SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Albany Hearing Office and Its Eight Field Offices
Social Security's hearing office locator lists the Albany hearing office on the 2nd Floor, 12 Corporate Woods Boulevard, Albany, NY 12211. It serves the Albany, Gloversville, Hudson, Oneonta, Plattsburgh, Queensbury, Schenectady and Troy field offices.
Where you live, not the distance to Albany, decides which hearing office hears your claim. Plattsburgh and Queensbury claims come to Albany, while the Watertown and Ogdensburg field offices go to Syracuse. Oneonta comes to Albany, but Utica, Binghamton and Ithaca are heard in Syracuse. Hearing office assignments can change, and for an in-person or agency video hearing the Notice of Hearing names the place. Go by that notice rather than by the locator.
Hearing formats
Phone, Video or In Person at an Albany Hearing
Deadline
30days
20 CFR 404.936
Social Security offers hearings by phone, online video, agency video or in person. Its ways to attend page describes a phone hearing as one you attend from a private location you choose, agency video as Social Security's equipment at one of its offices, and online video as your own smartphone, tablet or computer.
Under 20 CFR 404.936, a notice comes before the hearing is scheduled saying Social Security may set it by phone or agency video, and by online video only if you agree. You have 30 days after you receive that notice to object in writing to phone, agency video or both, or to agree in writing to online video. You can withdraw an online video agreement any time before the hearing starts, and a late response is accepted only for good cause. For a claimant in Plattsburgh or Oneonta, online video can replace the trip to Corporate Woods. Our guide to video and in-person hearings compares the formats.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Albany Med and St. Peter's
Albany Med and St. Peter's Health Partners each route records requests their own way. Request by date range and record type, and keep a note of what you asked for and when.
Albany Med Health System: its records request page points patients to MyChart first. Without MyChart, you sign and date the system's authorization form and email it to the hospital, or use the Datavant request portal linked for each hospital. Albany Medical Center's records line is 518-262-3151, and the page lists hours of 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Albany Medical Center gives a separate email address for imaging requests, so ask for scans as their own request. The same page covers Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital and Saratoga Hospital, each with its own phone line and one shared fax, 518-580-2463.
St. Peter's Health Partners: its records page says requests are processed by MRO, Inc., and it splits them in two. Hospital records go through one online request, where you pick the hospital: St. Peter's Hospital on South Manning Boulevard, Samaritan Hospital in Troy and its St. Mary's and Albany Memorial campuses, or Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady. Records from a St. Peter's Health Partners Medical Associates doctor's office go through a separate physician office request, or by form to fax 1-833-548-4509. If you were treated in a hospital and at a practice, send both.
St. Peter's notes that a fee may apply to copies. New York's Public Health Law section 18, as amended in 2017, bars a provider from charging for records requested to support an application, claim or appeal for a government benefit or program, so write on each request that the records are for a Social Security disability claim.
Public employees
NYSLRS Disability Retirement and SSDI Run on Separate Tracks
SSA reconsideration deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
The New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), administered by the Office of the State Comptroller, pays disability retirement benefits to members who are permanently disabled and cannot perform their duties because of a physical or mental condition. An ordinary disability benefit typically requires ten years of service credit; the accidental and performance of duty benefits have no minimum, and the Comptroller's booklet for Tier 3 Coordinated Plan members sets five years for that plan's ordinary disability benefit.
The two applications do not stand in for each other. NYSLRS says an application is not filed until NYSLRS receives it, and it takes applications in person in Albany, by mail, or by fax to 518-474-3091 followed by the mailed original. It also recommends that you not give the application to your employer. Under 20 CFR 404.614, a Social Security application is generally filed on the day it reaches a Social Security office, with exceptions for mailed applications. The appeal clocks differ too: NYSLRS must receive a written hearing request within four months of its determination date, while Social Security's deadlines run 60 days from when you receive a notice.
One plan ties the two together directly. The Comptroller's Coordinated Plan booklet for ERS Tier 3 and 4 members lists an award of primary Social Security disability benefits among the conditions for the Tier 3 ordinary disability benefit, and reduces that benefit by 50 percent of the Social Security disability benefit, with a further reduction for workers' compensation. Tell us your tier and any NYSLRS filing dates at the start. Our guide to how SSDI is calculated explains the amount such a reduction starts from.
After a denial
Sixty Days, Counted From Receipt
Deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
Each Social Security appeal step has its own 60-day window. Reconsideration must be requested in writing within 60 days after you receive the denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI. If reconsideration is denied, 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433 give 60 days from receipt to request a hearing before an administrative law judge.
20 CFR 404.901 treats a notice as received 5 days after the date printed on it, unless you show it reached you later. Counted from that printed date, the deadline falls 65 days out. If a notice arrives late, write the arrival date on the envelope and keep it. A late appeal is accepted only for good cause, so send us the notice the week it comes.
Common questions
Albany Disability Claim Questions
Do Plattsburgh and Queensbury claims go to the Albany hearing office?
Yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Plattsburgh and Queensbury field offices to the Albany hearing office at 12 Corporate Woods Boulevard, while the Watertown and Ogdensburg field offices go to Syracuse. If you agree in writing, the hearing can be held by online video and you do not travel.
Does a NYSLRS disability retirement application also start an SSDI claim?
Treat them as two separate filings. NYSLRS counts an application as filed when NYSLRS receives it, and Social Security generally counts one as filed when it reaches a Social Security office. Track the four-month NYSLRS hearing deadline apart from Social Security's 60-day deadlines.
Can Albany Med or St. Peter's charge for records used in a disability claim?
New York's Public Health Law, as amended in 2017, bars a charge for medical records requested to support an application, claim or appeal for a government benefit or program. State that purpose on the request.
Does a St. Peter's hospital records request include my doctor's office notes?
St. Peter's Health Partners takes physician office records through a separate request from hospital records. Its records page offers a Physician Office Record request for St. Peter's Health Partners Medical Associates alongside the Hospital Based Record request.
Does a Tier 3 NYSLRS disability pension change when SSDI is approved?
For ERS Tier 3 members in the Coordinated Plan, the Comptroller's plan booklet reduces the Tier 3 ordinary disability benefit by 50 percent of the Social Security disability benefit, reduces it for workers' compensation as well, and lists a Social Security disability award among the conditions for that benefit.
Discuss your claim
Go Over Your Albany Claim With Us
Tell us which field office took your claim, the date on your latest notice and whether a NYSLRS application is pending. We will explain the next step by phone or video.