Baton rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals. We work with you by phone and video to gather medical evidence, address denial reasons, and prepare for administrative hearings. Start with a list of your treatment providers, the work your condition prevents, and any Social Security decision you have received.
How we help
How We Prepare Baton Rouge Applications and Appeals
For SSI, we help complete the application and its financial disclosures.
We represent Baton Rouge adults from Tennessee and communicate with clients by phone and video. Our Louisiana disability representation page explains our service across the state.
Applications: We help prepare and file SSDI applications, gather medical evidence, and document work history. For SSI, we help complete the application and its financial disclosures.
Reconsideration: We review the denial reasons and address missing evidence. The response should deal with the medical, work, or financial issue identified in the decision.
Administrative hearings: We develop the medical record, prepare you for questions about your condition and work, and present the legal argument at the hearing.
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently receive benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or new cases involving back-pay issues alone. We refer federal court appeals to a trusted affiliate rather than handling them in-house.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for Baton Rouge Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough recent work covered by Social Security. Work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began. For SSDI based on statutory blindness, fully insured status is required, but the ordinary recent-work test does not apply. Read the Social Security Administration (SSA) eligibility explanation.
SSI does not require an SSDI insured-work record. It requires limited income and resources, eligibility based on disability, blindness, or age 65 or older, and other requirements such as qualifying citizenship or immigration status and residence. SSA explains these SSI eligibility rules.
For SSDI claims not based on statutory blindness and adult SSI claims based on disability, SSA considers whether your medical condition prevents substantial gainful activity (SGA), meaning significant physical or mental work usually done for pay or profit. Depending on the evaluation stage, SSA also considers your ability to perform past work and adjust to other work. A claim can be decided before those later steps.
The condition and resulting inability to perform substantial gainful activity must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death. You do not have to wait a year before applying. SSDI based on statutory blindness also has a duration requirement and separate work rules. SSI based on statutory blindness has no duration requirement, and SSA does not use SGA to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness. SSI eligibility based on age 65 or older does not require disability.
Local medical records
Requesting Baton Rouge General Records for Your Claim
The next choice is clinic records, hospital records, or both.
If you have received treatment at Baton Rouge General, its medical records instructions explain two ways to request a copy. You can submit a completed release authorization with a copy of your photo ID, or use the formal-copy request in MyChart.
In MyChart, open Sharing Hub, choose who will receive the records, and select Request a Formal Copy. The next choice is clinic records, hospital records, or both. Select the records relevant to your treatment, complete the prompts, give the required consent, and send the request.
Make a separate list of any treatment outside Baton Rouge General, including other hospitals, independent specialists, and therapy providers. Note where tests were performed and the dates of care. SSA asks for all treatment sources; a request to one hospital should not replace that list.
Local claim process
Medical Review and Hearing Notices in a Baton Rouge Claim
SSA checks nonmedical eligibility, while the state Disability Determination Services (DDS) develops medical evidence and makes the initial disability determination. DDS usually requests evidence from your own medical sources first. If the evidence is unavailable or insufficient, it may arrange an examination for additional information. Keep copies of agency requests and respond to their instructions.
For a later hearing appeal, SSA’s hearing-office locator provides general office information. A directory entry does not establish your individual case assignment. Use your case correspondence to identify the office handling your appeal.
Use your hearing notice to confirm the office handling your case and the attendance instructions. An in-person hearing may be held at an SSA hearing office or a permanent remote site. Our hearing-office guide provides the broader office directory.
Get organized
A Working Checklist for Your Baton Rouge Disability File
Include medications, their prescribers, and the dates and locations of tests.
Use one list to connect your treatment, work, and agency correspondence. It can be a paper folder or a document you update.
Treatment sources: Record each provider’s name, contact information, patient ID if known, and treatment dates. Include medications, their prescribers, and the dates and locations of tests.
Work history: Record job dates and actual duties, including lifting, standing, concentration, and attendance demands. Describe which tasks your condition limits and when those limits began.
SSI information: List income, bank accounts, other resources, and your living arrangement so the financial disclosures can be completed accurately.
Agency correspondence: Keep decision letters, the dates you received them, records requests, and appointment notices together. Add a note when you respond.
Do not delay applying just because you lack some documents. SSA’s application instructions say it can help obtain missing documents.
After a denial
Acting on an SSDI or SSI Denial in Baton Rouge
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI denial, a reconsideration request generally must be filed within 60 days after you receive the notice. After a reconsideration denial, an administrative law judge hearing request generally has the same receipt-based period. Both requests must be made in writing. SSA presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show that you did not receive it within that period.
If your reconsideration or hearing request is late, ask for an extension in writing and explain the reasons. SSA must find good cause; an extension is not automatic. Read the instructions in your decision promptly. The SSDI reconsideration rule, SSI reconsideration rule, SSDI hearing-request rule, and SSI hearing-request rule explain the deadline and extension requirements.
Common questions
Questions About Baton Rouge Disability Representation
Do I need to travel to Tennessee to work with Downard?
We work with Baton Rouge clients by phone and video. We are based in Tennessee and have no Louisiana office. Your communication with us is separate from SSA’s instructions for attending a hearing.
Can I receive SSI if I do not have enough work credits for SSDI?
Possibly. SSI does not require SSDI work credits. You still must meet its income and resource limits, qualify based on age, blindness, or disability, and meet its other eligibility rules. Adults under 65 generally need to meet SSA’s disability or blindness requirements.
Does a hospital diagnosis prove that I qualify for disability?
A diagnosis alone does not establish all eligibility requirements. For a disability-based claim, SSA evaluates medical evidence and the applicable work and duration rules, along with the program’s nonmedical requirements. Records describing symptoms, tests, treatment, and functional limits help document the claim.
What if I cannot travel to an examination?
Contact the agency that requested the examination and explain the problem promptly. An evidence-development examination is different from a judge hearing. Do not assume that working with our team by video changes the appointment instructions.
How can I attend an SSA disability hearing?
SSA has four hearing methods: in person, audio by telephone, agency video using SSA equipment, and online video using a personal device. Online video requires your agreement. Objections to audio or agency video are subject to SSA’s rules and exceptions. Read the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing and follow its response instructions and deadlines. Use your scheduling notice for your case’s attendance details. Consult SSA’s hearing options.
Discuss your claim
Talk With Downard About Your Baton Rouge Claim
Tell us whether you are starting an application, seeking reconsideration, or preparing for a hearing. Have your provider list and any decision letter available so we can discuss where your claim stands.