Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville SSDI and SSI Lawyers for Northeast Florida
The Jacksonville hearing office on Freedom Crossing Trail hears disability appeals for seven Social Security field offices across North and Central Florida, from Lake City and Gainesville to St. Augustine, Port Orange and Deland. Downard & Associates represents claimants in Jacksonville, Florida, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from applications through reconsideration and hearings 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
Representing Jacksonville Claimants by Phone and Video
Gathering all of it before Social Security decides is the part of the work we start first.
Jacksonville claims often draw on records from several places at once: a hospital system, a private practice and, for veterans, the VA. Gathering all of it before Social Security decides is the part of the work we start first. If you already applied on your own, we pick the claim up at whatever stage it has reached and start with what the file is missing.
For an application, we document your treatment and work history and complete the forms with you; for SSI, we also document income and resources. After a denial, we respond to the reasons Social Security gave. At a hearing, we prepare you to testify and present the evidence. Our Florida disability lawyer page covers claims across the rest of the state.
We have no Jacksonville office. Consultations and hearing preparation happen 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 new cases involving back-pay issues alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Jacksonville Hearing Office and Its Service Area
Social Security's hearing office locator lists the Jacksonville hearing office at Building 400, Suite 400, 8880 Freedom Crossing Trail, Jacksonville, FL 32256. It serves seven field offices: Deland, Gainesville, Jacksonville (North), Jacksonville (South), Lake City, Port Orange and St. Augustine. The locator lists its hours as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
That means a claim from the Gainesville or Lake City field office is assigned to the Jacksonville hearing office, not one closer to home. The Notice of Hearing gives the time and manner of your appearance, plus the place if you appear in person or by agency video. The format rules below decide whether you travel at all.
Hearing formats
How You Can Appear at a Jacksonville Hearing
Deadline
30days
20 CFR 404.936
Social Security's ways to attend page lists four options: in person at one of its offices, by telephone, by agency video at one of its offices, or by online video on your own device from a private location.
Under 20 CFR 404.936, Social Security sends a notice before it schedules your hearing, and you have 30 days after you receive it. Within that window, you can object in writing to a phone or agency video appearance, agree in writing to online video, or both. Online video is used only with your agreement, and you can withdraw that agreement before the hearing starts. Late filings are accepted only for good cause. Our hearing representation includes filing the form that matches your choice.
Under paragraph (c)(2) of the same rule, Social Security generally directs the witnesses it calls, including medical and vocational experts, to appear by phone or video, however you appear. Your objection or agreement covers only your own appearance, and the 30-day window is when you make it.
Local treatment records
Records From Jacksonville Hospital Systems
UF Health Jacksonville: UF Health's medical records page takes a completed request form by mail, fax or email, and patients can reach their records through the sharing option in the MyUFHealth menu. The Jacksonville records line is (904) 244-2597, option 2 for medical records and option 3 for radiology images. The page and UF Health's current request form list different return addresses, so confirm where to send the form when you call.
Ascension St. Vincent's: its patient portal page says most hospital records can be downloaded from the portal or requested online. Records from an Ascension doctor's office are separate: the page tells patients to contact the clinic directly.
Mayo Clinic: its medical records page serves Mayo Clinic as a whole and lists Release of Information hours for Florida. Records are available through the patient portal, a third-party authorization form sends them to someone else, and images can be requested through the portal or in writing. Mayo says it can mail images on an encrypted CD at no charge.
Hospital records and practice records often come from different offices. List every doctor you have seen, not only the hospitals, so nothing drops out of the request.
Veterans
VA Treatment Records for Jacksonville Veterans
Records of VA treatment are medical evidence like any other, and they often hold years of visits that a private provider never saw.
Jacksonville veterans are served by the VA North Florida/South Georgia Healthcare System, which lists the Jacksonville 1 VA Clinic at 1536 North Jefferson Street and the Jacksonville North VA Clinic at 145 Heron Bay Road, with medical centers in Lake City and Gainesville. Records of VA treatment are medical evidence like any other, and they often hold years of visits that a private provider never saw.
To get a copy of your own VA records, the VA's records request page points to VA Form 10-5345a, submitted by mail, fax or in person, or a secure message to a Release of Information care team. For an in-person request, bring a valid photo ID such as your Veterans Health Identification Card or driver's license. We handle the SSDI claim for veterans who receive VA benefits; the VA claim itself stays with the VA process. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim fit together.
Get organized
One List for Hospital, Practice and VA Records
A Jacksonville claim can draw on a UF Health admission, a Baptist or Ascension practice, a Mayo specialist and years of VA visits. Each sits in a different records office, so the list matters more here than the forms.
Providers: every hospital, practice, clinic, VA facility and therapist, with addresses and the dates of your first and most recent visits. Name the practice separately when a doctor is part of a hospital system.
Imaging: where each MRI, CT or X-ray was done, so the report can be requested from the office that keeps it.
Requests: the date of each records request, the route used and what came back.
Recent jobs: Social Security looks at work done in the past five years. Under 20 CFR 404.1565, it asks for the dates you worked and the duties of each job in that period, and 20 CFR 404.1560 leaves out work that started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days.
Daily limits: concrete examples of what you can no longer do and how often it happens.
For veterans, add your VA rating decisions and any VA examination reports to the same folder. We use the full list to request records and to prepare you for the questions a judge asks about work and daily activity.
After a denial
Deadlines After a Jacksonville Denial
Deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
Reconsideration must be requested in writing within 60 days after you receive the denial notice, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and 20 CFR 404.901 counts the notice as received 5 days after its date unless you show otherwise. A denial at reconsideration opens another 60 days to request a hearing under 20 CFR 404.933 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1433 for SSI.
For a veteran, a denial can come down to evidence the decision maker never had. Check whether your VA records were in the file before you assume the medical evidence was weighed and rejected. Our guide to how a VA rating differs from a Social Security decision covers why a high VA rating does not decide an SSDI claim.
Common questions
Jacksonville Disability Claim Questions
Why would a Gainesville claimant's hearing be in Jacksonville?
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Gainesville field office, along with Deland, Lake City, Port Orange, St. Augustine and both Jacksonville field offices, to the Jacksonville hearing office on Freedom Crossing Trail. Agreeing in writing to online video within 30 days after you receive the notice about ways to attend lets Social Security schedule you by online video from a private location instead of at the hearing office.
Which UF Health Jacksonville phone option is for imaging?
UF Health lists (904) 244-2597 for Jacksonville records questions, with option 2 for medical records and option 3 for radiology images.
Do I need my VA records for an SSDI claim?
If the VA treated you for the conditions in your claim, those records are medical evidence Social Security should see. You can request your own copy with VA Form 10-5345a or a secure message to the Release of Information team, and we can request them for the claim with your authorization.
Does Downard handle my VA disability claim too?
No. We handle SSDI claims for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Jacksonville Claim With Us
Tell us where you have been treated, including any VA care, what Social Security has decided and when your last notice arrived. We will explain the next step by phone or video.