Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham Social Security Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims in Jefferson, Shelby and Walker Counties
A disability hearing request from Birmingham is generally handled by the Birmingham hearing office on the 1st Floor at 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard, because most addresses in Jefferson, Shelby and Walker counties are served by one of four field offices, Birmingham Downtown, Birmingham East, Bessemer and Jasper, all on its list. Most of St. Clair County is the exception close to home: Pell City, Springville and Odenville ZIP codes go to the Anniston field office, which is on the Montgomery hearing office's list.
Downard & Associates represents adults across the Birmingham metro with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the first application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We are based in Lebanon, Tennessee, talk with Alabama clients by phone or video, and take no fee unless you win.
How we help
What Our Birmingham Disability Attorneys Handle
Adults are judged by one disability definition in both programs, and you can apply for both at the same time.
SSDI rests on a Social Security earnings record, ordinarily your own, while SSI depends on limited income and countable resources and needs no work history. Adults are judged by one disability definition in both programs, and you can apply for both at the same time. A parent's record can sometimes support an adult whose disability started before 22, and a late spouse's record can sometimes support a disabled widow or widower age 50 to 59; each depends on rules about marriage, dependency, the worker's record and when the disability began. Statewide rules are on our Alabama disability lawyer page.
Downard has no office in Birmingham. We meet with you by phone or video, and our attorney generally takes part in your hearing from Tennessee in the same way, even if you appear in person. Our clients are adults age 18 and older. We do not take VA claims or VA appeals, continuing disability reviews, cessation cases or cases about back pay alone, and we refer a case that needs federal court to affiliated counsel.
The local offices
Four Field Offices Divide the Birmingham Metro
Social Security's office locator sends Birmingham-area addresses to one of four field offices, each open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Birmingham Downtown, District Office, 1st Floor, 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard North: downtown, Southside, the west and southwest parts of the city, and ZIP codes including 35203 to 35205, 35209, 35211, 35216, 35223, 35226 and 35242 to 35244, plus Gardendale, Fultondale, Pleasant Grove, Fairfield and most of Shelby County, including Alabaster, Pelham, Helena, Chelsea, Calera, Columbiana and Montevallo. Phone 1-866-592-3734.
Birmingham East, Trussville Executive Park, 1972 Gadsden Highway: the east side, 35206, 35210, 35212, 35213, 35215, 35217, 35222 and 35235, plus Trussville, Pinson, Leeds and Moody. Phone 1-866-613-2743.
Bessemer, 5475 Academy Way: Bessemer (35020, 35022 and 35023), 35221 and 35228 in the southwest of the county, Adger and Dolomite. Phone 1-866-593-5647.
Jasper, 501 The Mall Way: Walker County, including Jasper, Sumiton, Cordova and Carbon Hill, plus Dora in western Jefferson County. Phone 1-877-575-5199.
Two neighboring counties go elsewhere. Blount County ZIP codes, including Oneonta, Blountsville and Hayden, go to the Albertville field office at 406 Martling Road, which is also on the Birmingham hearing office's list. St. Clair County ZIP codes, including Pell City, Springville, Odenville, Ragland and Ashville, go to the Anniston field office at 801 Quintard Avenue, though Moody goes to Birmingham East. Search your own street address in the locator, because assignments can change and a ZIP code can cross office lines.
The field office takes applications and appeal requests and checks the non-medical requirements, but it does not decide whether you are disabled or hold hearings. In Alabama the medical decision at the application and reconsideration stages comes from the state's Disability Determination Service; at a hearing, the judge decides.
Hearing offices
The Birmingham Hearing Office, and Montgomery for St. Clair County
For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
The data behind Social Security's hearing office locator gives the Birmingham hearing office's address as 1st Floor, 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35285, phone 1-866-613-2863, and lists eight Alabama field offices for it: Albertville, Bessemer, Birmingham (Downtown), Birmingham (East), Gadsden, Jasper, Talladega and Tuscaloosa. That is the same address as the Birmingham Downtown field office, which is on the district office's 1st floor. Appendix F of Social Security's privacy notice for hearing records gives the same list plus a Trussville entry with no office code; the Birmingham East office is in Trussville Executive Park.
The Montgomery hearing office, at Suite 200, 4344 Carmichael Road, Montgomery, lists Alexander City, Anniston, Auburn, Montgomery and Selma, so a St. Clair County claim served by the Anniston field office is generally handled there. Your Notice of Hearing names the office handling your case and how you take part, and a hearing handled by an office in another city can still be held by phone or video.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask through a field office, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. If you move while your hearing request is pending, the hearing-format rules in 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436 let Social Security decide again how you will appear, including by phone or agency video, despite the objection, and it considers the move only once you send evidence verifying your new residence. Its hearings manual says management will still honor the objection after a move when doing so causes no additional delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it is responsible for notifying you and your representative of the move as soon as possible. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Alabama rules
Alabama Medicaid Eligibility Follows SSI
In Alabama, an SSI award generally brings Medicaid with it. Under the Alabama Medicaid Agency's rule, Ala. Admin. Code r. 560-X-25-.03(1)(a), aged, blind or disabled people who receive SSI are among the groups categorically eligible for Medicaid, and the agency's state plan says Alabama accepts Social Security's SSI eligibility determination, so SSI recipients are automatically eligible for Medicaid. SSDI is different: Medicare generally begins after 24 months of entitlement to disability benefits, with exceptions such as ALS, so an SSDI-only household in the Birmingham area may need a separate Alabama Medicaid application while it waits.
Moving across a state line, or out of Alabama, can change this, because each state runs its own Medicaid program.
Local treatment records
Records From UAB Medicine, UAB St. Vincent's and the Birmingham VA
VA records can support an SSDI or SSI claim even though we do not handle VA claims themselves.
With your permission, Social Security makes every reasonable effort to get records from your own medical sources, which 20 CFR 404.1512(b)(1) (416.912(b)(1) for SSI) defines as an initial request to each source and, if the records have not arrived, one follow-up request 10 to 20 calendar days later. You must still tell it about or submit all evidence you know of, so a list of every provider and your own copies help close gaps.
UAB Medicine: its medical records request page takes a signed authorization form by mail to UAB Health Information Management, Release of Information Office, 1201 11th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35205, or by fax, with questions to 205-930-7724. UAB Medicine says there is no cost for patients to receive their own records, and its St. Vincent's records FAQ adds that federal and state law allow a small fee when records go to a third party, such as an attorney.
UAB St. Vincent's: the former St. Vincent's hospitals now take records requests through MyChart or a printed form returned by mail, fax or in person to each hospital's Release of Information office, including 810 St. Vincent's Drive for the Birmingham hospital and 50 Medical Park Drive East for St. Vincent's East.
Birmingham VA Medical Center: the VA's medical records office page says you can get records online through your VA account, or request copies on VA Form 10-5345a by mail to Attn: Release of Information, 700 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233, or in person there; mailed requests may take up to 20 business days. VA records can support an SSDI or SSI claim even though we do not handle VA claims themselves.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Birmingham Disability Claim
To object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone, or by online video on your own device, either from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Birmingham Disability Claim Questions
Will my hearing be at 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard?
The Birmingham hearing office and the Birmingham Downtown field office share the address 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard, but having that office handle your case does not mean your hearing is held there. Social Security can schedule a phone hearing, an agency video hearing at one of its offices, an in-person hearing, or an online video hearing if you agree. The Notice of Hearing says where and how you take part.
Which field office serves Hoover, Homewood and Mountain Brook?
It depends on the ZIP code. The locator assigns 35209, 35216, 35223, 35226, 35242, 35243 and 35244 to Birmingham Downtown and 35213 to Birmingham East. Both offices are on the Birmingham hearing office's list, so the hearing office is generally the same either way.
I live in Pell City. Why would my hearing office be in Montgomery?
Because the locator assigns Pell City ZIP codes, 35125 and 35128, to the Anniston field office, and Anniston is on the Montgomery hearing office's list rather than Birmingham's. Montgomery can hold your hearing by phone, agency video or in person, or by online video if you agree. You can object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing within 30 days after you receive the notice that offers them; if you object to both, Social Security generally schedules you in person, or by online video if you agree. Your Notice of Hearing names the office and the format.
Do Bessemer and Jasper claims go to the Birmingham hearing office?
Yes, generally. The Bessemer field office on Academy Way and the Jasper field office on The Mall Way are both on the Birmingham hearing office's list, along with Birmingham Downtown and Birmingham East.
Discuss your claim
Ask for a Free Review of Your Birmingham Disability Claim
Call (615) 255-4307 or complete the free review form, and you will hear back within 3 business hours. Have your latest Social Security notice, the date it reached you and the names of the Birmingham clinics and hospitals where you are treated.