Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Across Five Hearing Offices
Social Security assigns most Los Angeles area field offices to five hearing offices, Los Angeles Downtown on Figueroa Street, Los Angeles West on Wilshire Boulevard, Norwalk, Long Beach and Pasadena, and your home address generally decides which one has your case. The Pomona Valley field office goes to the Orange hearing office instead. Downard & Associates represents Los Angeles claimants in 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 Los Angeles Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Some Los Angeles claims involve local paperwork alongside the medical evidence: which of the five hearing offices has the file, whether Los Angeles County General Relief was paid while SSI was pending, which can reduce the first SSI back payment, and which hospital system holds the treatment records.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our California disability lawyer page covers statewide topics, including how the state's Disability Determination Service Division makes the medical decision at the application and reconsideration stages.
We have no Los Angeles 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 offices
Which Los Angeles Hearing Office Has Your Disability Claim
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns Los Angeles area field offices to these hearing offices:
- Los Angeles Downtown, 888 S. Figueroa St., Suite 800: the Crenshaw, Los Angeles (Downtown), University Village, Watts and Wilshire Center field offices.
- Los Angeles West, Suite 400, 12121 Wilshire Boulevard: Chatsworth, Culver City, Hollywood, Inglewood, Lancaster, Los Angeles Westwood, Panorama City and Santa Clarita.
- Norwalk, Suite 250, 12440 E. Imperial Highway: Boyle Heights, Compton, Downey, Huntington Park, Montebello, Norwalk and Whittier.
- Long Beach, Suite 5300, 501 West Ocean Boulevard: Lakewood, Long Beach, San Pedro and Torrance.
- Pasadena, Suite 500, 800 E. Colorado Boulevard: Alhambra, Arcadia, Burbank, El Monte, Glendale, Glendora, Industry Hills, Old Burbank, Pasadena, San Fernando and West Covina.
A few assignments are easy to miss. Lancaster and Santa Clarita are assigned to the Los Angeles West office on Wilshire Boulevard, Boyle Heights goes to Norwalk, and the Pomona Valley field office is assigned to the Orange hearing office in Orange County, which our Orange County disability lawyer page covers.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask to have a case transferred and Social Security decides whether to do it. 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.
General relief and SSI
Los Angeles County General Relief While an SSI Claim Is Pending
Los Angeles County's Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) runs General Relief, and its SSI advocacy policy states that, as a condition of General Relief eligibility, participants must pursue all potential income, including SSI. Participants found permanently unemployable because of a medical condition, or permanently in the county's NSA category, are referred to the county's Countywide Benefits Entitlement Services Team for SSI advocacy, and a missed appointment there can lead to noncompliance action unless there is good cause.
DPSS has General Relief participants sign an SSP 14 interim assistance authorization, signed by both the participant and the county and renewed once a year. Under its interim assistance reimbursement policy, if the SSI claim is approved and a valid authorization is on file, Social Security repays the county from the participant's initial retroactive SSI/SSP payment, and only General Relief paid without federal funds counts. Social Security's operations manual limits that repayment to months for which both SSI and General Relief were paid, starting with the first month you are eligible for SSI payments and ending with the month your regular monthly SSI payments begin. Expect the first SSI back payment to be reduced by the reimbursement, and tell us if you are on General Relief so the numbers are clear from the start. Our SSI claims page explains the federal program.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Cedars-Sinai and VA Greater Los Angeles
Cedars-Sinai: its medical records page takes requests through the My CS-Link portal, with records available there in five to seven days, or by mail or fax on its Authorization for Use or Disclosure of Health Information. Mail goes to Release of Information, Health Information Department (Medical Records), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Room 2800, Los Angeles, CA 90048, and the fax is 310-423-0113. The page says paper copies carry a per-page fee while portal and email copies are free, and X-ray films come through its imaging center rather than the records office.
For California providers such as Cedars-Sinai, though not the federal VA, Health and Safety Code section 123110(d) entitles a patient to one free copy of the relevant part of a record when the patient presents a written request and proof that the records are needed to support a claim or appeal regarding eligibility for SSDI, SSI or another listed public benefit program, and subdivision (e) requires the provider to send it within 30 days after receiving the request. The free copy does not apply to a patient represented by a private attorney, meaning any attorney not employed by a nonprofit legal services entity, who is paying the costs of the claim or appeal while it is pending, so ask us how records will be requested in your case.
VA Greater Los Angeles: the medical records office is closed to walk-ins and points veterans to its kiosks or My HealtheVet. VA Form 10-5345a goes by mail to VAGLAHS Sepulveda, Attn: ROI, 16111 Plummer Street (136D2), North Hills, CA 91343, or by fax to 310-481-5096, and the page says requests are processed within 20 business days. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Los Angeles Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
Once you ask for a hearing, Social Security mails a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing. Its ways to attend page lists four formats: in person, telephone, agency video and online video 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. Objecting to only one of those formats leaves Social Security free to schedule the other one, an in-person hearing or, if you agree, online video; objecting to both gets you an in-person hearing or, if you agree, online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, also within 30 days, and you can withdraw the agreement any time before the hearing starts. A late objection or agreement needs good cause. A timely objection does not decide every case: if you move while the hearing request is pending, or in the other limited cases the rule lists, Social Security decides how you appear. Our disability hearings page describes what happens at the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive a denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI. 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 printed on it 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. Our disability appeals page walks through each step.
Common questions
Los Angeles Disability Claim Questions
Which hearing office takes a Hollywood or Inglewood disability claim?
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns both the Hollywood and Inglewood field offices to the Los Angeles West hearing office at 12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 400. The Notice of Hearing in your own case names the place and format.
Is a Pomona claim heard in Los Angeles?
The locator assigns the Pomona Valley field office to the Orange hearing office at 1120 West La Veta Avenue in Orange, not to any of the five Los Angeles area offices. Hearing office jurisdiction generally follows the claimant's residence address.
Will General Relief be taken out of my SSI back payment?
If the SSI claim is approved and a valid SSP 14 authorization is on file, yes, for the months in which both SSI and General Relief were paid, from the first month of SSI eligibility through the month regular monthly SSI payments begin. Los Angeles County's interim assistance reimbursement policy says Social Security reimburses the county from the participant's initial retroactive SSI/SSP payment. Without a valid authorization, the county cannot collect from that payment.
Is there a free copy of medical records for an SSDI or SSI appeal in California?
Health and Safety Code section 123110(d) gives a patient one free copy of the relevant records with a written request and proof that they are needed for an SSDI or SSI claim or appeal. The provider has 30 days after receiving the request to send them. It does not apply when a private attorney is paying the costs of the claim or appeal while it is pending.
How do I get Cedars-Sinai records without using My CS-Link?
Mail its Authorization for Use or Disclosure of Health Information to Release of Information, Health Information Department (Medical Records), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Room 2800, Los Angeles, CA 90048, or fax it to 310-423-0113. Its records page says mail and fax requests are processed within five to seven business days.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Los Angeles Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters, and any General Relief notices in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.