Buffalo, new York
Buffalo Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Buffalo, New York, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims and appeals. We work with clients by phone and video from Tennessee; we do not have a New York office. We help with applications, medical evidence, reconsideration and hearing preparation. Start by telling us whether you have applied, received a denial or been scheduled for a hearing, and how your condition affects your ability to work.
How we help
How We Help Buffalo Adults Build Their Disability Claims
If the judge denies the claim, we can identify issues for Appeals Council review.
We help prepare applications, gather medical evidence and document work history. For reconsideration after a denial, we address the reasons given and add missing or updated evidence. That work connects the application to the treatment and job information the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to evaluate the claim.
For an administrative law judge hearing, we develop the medical record, prepare you for questions about your symptoms and daily limitations, and present the legal argument. If the judge denies the claim, we can identify issues for Appeals Council review. Each stage has a different task; a claim does not have to pass through every stage to be approved.
Our New York disability representation page explains the broader state context. We represent adults age 18 and older in SSDI and SSI matters within the following service limits.
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 Buffalo Applicants
Duration rule
12months
SSDI is based on an insured work record. It generally requires enough recent work covered by Social Security. The work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began. Statutory blindness has a different insured-status rule: you must be fully insured, but the usual recent-work test does not apply.
SSI is based on financial and other eligibility rules. It does not require work credits. You must have limited countable income and resources and meet applicable citizenship or immigration, residency and other requirements. Its qualifying categories include disability, statutory blindness and age 65 or older. See SSA's SSI eligibility requirements.
For adult SSDI and SSI claims based on a condition other than statutory blindness, a medically established physical or mental condition must prevent substantial gainful activity (SGA), meaning significant physical or mental work usually done for pay or profit. SSA uses a sequential evaluation and, when necessary, considers whether you can do past work or adjust to other work. A decision can occur at an earlier step; not every claim reaches the work-comparison steps.
Both the condition and the resulting inability to perform SGA 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 need to wait 12 months before applying when the expected duration meets the rule.
Statutory blindness has separate rules. For initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, SSA does not use SGA as an eligibility test, and there is no duration requirement for blindness. Income and resource rules still apply. SSDI based on statutory blindness still has a duration requirement. SSDI blindness also has special work rules, including provisions for people age 55 or older; SSI's blindness exceptions should not be assumed to apply to SSDI.
Local medical evidence
Gathering Records From the Buffalo Facilities That Treated You
Buffalo General Medical Center and Gates Vascular Institute are among the listed facilities.
If you received treatment at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), its medical-record instructions provide an online request option and a printable release authorization. The instructions also identify a separate Office of Court Administration (OCA) Form 960 for attorneys and law firms. Record the dates of the care you need documented, including any hospital admission.
For care through Kaleida Health, its published release authorization asks you to identify the facility, the recipient and the dates of the records to release. Buffalo General Medical Center and Gates Vascular Institute are among the listed facilities. Use those fields to prepare your treatment list, and confirm the current request instructions with the facility before submitting a form.
New York's Division of Disability Determinations reviews medical eligibility under federal rules. New York's application guide asks applicants to identify doctors, hospitals, clinics and other record sources. List ECMC alongside any other providers who treated you; do not leave out care simply because it appears in a different portal.
Get organized
A Treatment and Work Checklist for Buffalo Applicants
Use one list to connect each source of care with the dates and limitations relevant to your claim. The list can start with approximate dates; mark what you still need to confirm.
Treatment sources: Write down each doctor, clinic and hospital, contact information, dates of treatment and the conditions treated. Identify hospital admissions separately from office visits.
Tests and medicines: Record where testing occurred, the test dates, medicines you take and the prescribing providers. Include changes that help explain your treatment history.
Work duties: Begin with jobs from the five years before your medical conditions made you unable to work. Follow the reporting period and job-selection instructions on SSA's Work History Report and any accompanying letter. Record when you held each job and describe lifting, standing, sitting, concentration and other duties rather than relying only on job titles.
Changes in function: Note specific activities your condition limits, how often symptoms interrupt them and why work ended or changed. Describe your own experience accurately.
Do not delay applying solely because you are waiting for records. SSA's disability application guidance says it will help obtain missing documents. Its SSI document guidance also explains that you can be given time to provide what is missing.
After a denial
After a Buffalo Disability Denial or Hearing Notice
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI denial, the reconsideration request generally is due within 60 days after you receive the notice. After a reconsideration denial, the request for an administrative law judge hearing generally has the same 60-day period after receipt. Both requests must be made in writing. SSA normally presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show that you did not receive it within that period.
If the request is late, ask for an extension in writing and explain the reasons. SSA must find good cause; an extension is not automatic. The SSDI reconsideration rule, SSI reconsideration rule, SSDI hearing-request rule and SSI hearing-request rule explain the receipt-based deadline and extension process. Check the specific notice rather than using one deadline for every kind of decision.
SSA lists 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. Audio and agency-video objections are subject to SSA rules and exceptions. Read the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing promptly and follow its response instructions and deadlines. Our phone and video communication with you does not determine SSA's hearing format.
Review SSA's ways to attend a hearing and our hearing-office guide for the next steps. Your actual hearing notice gives the attendance instructions for your case. Confirm those instructions before arranging travel or setting up a device.
Common questions
Questions Buffalo Applicants Ask About Their Claims
Can I work with Downard without traveling to Tennessee?
Yes. We work with Buffalo clients by phone and video. We are based in Tennessee and do not have a New York office. Your communications with us are separate from SSA's instructions about attending a hearing.
Do I need to collect every medical record before applying?
No. Do not delay applying solely because records are missing. SSA can help obtain documents. Provide the names and contact information for your treatment sources and identify records you already have, including tests and hospital admissions.
What details should I gather for Buffalo hospital records?
Identify the facility, the dates of care and where the records should be sent. ECMC publishes medical-record request instructions, and Kaleida's published authorization includes facility, recipient and date fields. If you received care from both systems or from separate clinics, list each treatment source.
Does a diagnosis alone establish Social Security disability?
No. For ordinary adult disability claims, SSA needs evidence establishing the condition and evaluates its severity, duration and effect on work. A diagnosis named in SSA's listings does not by itself show that the listing criteria are met. Statutory blindness has separate eligibility rules.
Can you help after an administrative law judge denies my claim?
We can review issues for an Appeals Council challenge. We refer federal court appeals to a trusted affiliate rather than handling them in-house. Review the decision and its instructions promptly because the next step depends on the stage and circumstances.
Discuss your claim
Talk With Downard About Your Buffalo Disability Claim
Tell us where you are in the process and how your condition has affected your work. Include the date and type of any decision you want to discuss. We can talk about the application or appeal work involved and the next steps for your situation.