Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, AL Disability Lawyers and Attorneys for Social Security Claims
Social Security's Mobile field office and its Mobile hearing office share one street address, 550 Government Street, with the field office in Suite 100 and the hearing office in Suite 200. Social Security's office locator assigns Mobile ZIP codes such as 36602, 36606 and 36695 to that field office, and the hearing office's list in Social Security's hearing office data names the Mobile field office, so a hearing request from those ZIP codes generally goes to the hearing office in the same building.
Downard & Associates represents adults in Mobile, on the Eastern Shore and along the Alabama Gulf Coast with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims at the application, reconsideration, hearing and Appeals Council stages. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What Our Disability Lawyers Handle for Mobile Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Social Security's disability regulations are federal. The local parts of a Mobile claim are the field office that takes your application, the state agency that makes the medical decision at the application and reconsideration stages, the hearing office your address is assigned to, and the hospitals and clinics whose records carry the claim. Our Alabama disability lawyer page covers the other hearing offices that decide Alabama claims.
We have no Mobile 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 office
The Mobile Hearing Office and the Seven Field Offices on Its List
Social Security's hearing office data, the file behind its hearing office locator, gives the Mobile hearing office's address as Suite 200, 550 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602, with office hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Its list names seven field offices in two states: Andalusia, Dothan, Fairhope, Jackson and Mobile in Alabama, and Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola in Florida.
That list reaches east to Dothan, which has its own Dothan disability lawyer page. Montgomery has a separate hearing office, at Suite 200, 4344 Carmichael Road, whose list names the Alexander City, Anniston, Auburn, Montgomery and Selma field offices instead.
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. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance, generally only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. A case is generally not reassigned when you have objected to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence, and Social Security can still honor that objection after a move if doing so causes no added delay. The office that receives a reassigned case notifies you and your representative. 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.
Field offices and zip codes
Which Alabama Field Office on the Mobile List Takes Your ZIP Code
The locator's office assignments are by ZIP code, so the place names in parentheses are for orientation only.
Social Security's office locator assigns the ZIP codes below to four of the five Alabama field offices on the Mobile hearing office list. Dothan, the fifth, has its own page. The locator's office assignments are by ZIP code, so the place names in parentheses are for orientation only. These are sample ZIP codes, not full service areas, and assignments change, so search your own ZIP code before you rely on the list.
Mobile, Suite 100, 550 Government St, Mobile, AL 36602: 36602, 36603, 36604, 36605, 36606, 36607, 36608, 36609, 36612, 36613, 36617, 36618, 36619, 36693 and 36695 (Mobile); 36610 (Prichard); 36611 (Chickasaw); 36571 (Saraland); 36572 (Satsuma); 36575 (Semmes); 36582 (Theodore); 36522 (Citronelle); 36541 (Grand Bay); and 36528 (Dauphin Island).
Fairhope, 101 Courthouse Dr, Fairhope, AL 36532: 36526 (Daphne); 36527 (Spanish Fort); 36532 (Fairhope); 36535 (Foley); 36542 (Gulf Shores); 36561 (Orange Beach); 36567 (Robertsdale); 36551 (Loxley); and 36507 (Bay Minette).
Jackson, 4249 N College Ave, Jackson, AL 36545: 36545 (Jackson); 36460 (Monroeville); and 36518 (Chatom).
Andalusia, 605 Stanley Ave, Andalusia, AL 36420: 36420 (Andalusia); 36426 (Brewton); and 36502 (Atmore).
Andalusia and Jackson are separate field offices from Mobile, but both are on the Mobile hearing office list, so a hearing request from their ZIP codes generally goes to Government Street as well.
Across the state lines
Grand Bay and Pascagoula: Neighboring Gulf Coast ZIP Codes on Different Hearing Office Lists
West of Mobile, the field offices on each side of the Alabama and Mississippi state line are on different hearing office lists. The locator assigns 36541 (Grand Bay, Alabama) to the Mobile field office, which is on the Mobile list. It assigns 39567 (Pascagoula, Mississippi), 39563 (Moss Point) and 39452 (Lucedale) to the Moss Point field office at 6000 Hwy 63, and 39564 (Ocean Springs) to the Gulfport field office. Social Security's hearing office data puts the Moss Point and Gulfport offices on the list of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi hearing office at 1901 Broadway Drive. Assignments change, so search your own ZIP code at ssa.gov/locator to find your field office, and go by the hearing office named on your hearing letters. Our Mississippi disability lawyer page covers the Hattiesburg list.
East of Mobile, in the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach areas, the Florida state line does not separate hearing offices. Both field offices are in Florida, and both are on the Mobile hearing office's list, so hearing requests from the areas they serve generally come to the Mobile hearing office in Alabama. Our Pensacola disability lawyer page covers records and claims in the Pensacola area. Farther east, Social Security's hearing office data puts the Panama City and Marianna field offices in Florida on the list of the Tallahassee hearing office, while the Dothan field office in Alabama stays on the Mobile list.
Local treatment records
Records From Infirmary Health, USA Health and the Mobile VA Clinic
USA Health has two patient portals, and a patient treated at more than one USA Health location may have records in both.
Infirmary Health (Mobile Infirmary): Infirmary Health's medical records page, headed "How to Obtain a Copy of Your Medical Records," links an online medical records request form. It says records can also be faxed directly to your health care provider, and it gives the Release of Information Office at (251) 435-2286 for questions.
USA Health (University Hospital, Providence Hospital and clinics): USA Health's patient portals page says it has two patient portals and that the location where you receive treatment determines which portal you use. It lists University Hospital, Providence Hospital and the Mitchell Cancer Institute under MyUSAHealth, and most Providence Campus clinics and several primary-care clinics under the Athena Portal. USA Health has two patient portals, and a patient treated at more than one USA Health location may have records in both.
Mobile VA Clinic, 4444 Demetropolis Road: the clinic is part of the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System. The system's medical records office page lets you sign in to find, review, print and download your VA medical records online, and it gives its Release of Information office at 400 Veterans Avenue, Biloxi, Mississippi, open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Bring or mail a signed VA Form 10-5345a, Individuals' Request for a Copy of Their Own Health Information, and bring your Veteran Health Identification Card if you go in person. The page says requests may take up to 20 business days to process. VA's general guidance says that if you get care at an outpatient clinic, you should call the medical records office first to ask whether it has your records.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Mobile 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 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. 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 a 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
Mobile and Baldwin County Disability Claim Questions
Which suite at 550 Government Street handles a disability hearing?
Suite 200 is the hearing office. Suite 100 is the Mobile field office, which takes applications and other field office business. If your hearing is in person or by agency video, go by the place named on your Notice of Hearing.
I live in Daphne or Fairhope. Do I deal with the Mobile field office?
Generally not for field office business. The locator assigns 36526 (Daphne) and 36532 (Fairhope) to the Fairhope field office at 101 Courthouse Dr. That office is on the Mobile hearing office list, so a hearing request generally goes to Government Street. Search your own ZIP code at ssa.gov/locator to see which field office serves you.
Does an Atmore or Brewton address keep a hearing on the Mobile list?
Generally yes. The locator assigns 36502 (Atmore) and 36426 (Brewton) to the Andalusia field office, and Andalusia is on the Mobile hearing office list. Go by the office named on your own hearing letters.
Can I get my Mobile Infirmary records sent straight to my doctor?
Infirmary Health's medical records page says records can be faxed directly to your health care provider. Call its Release of Information Office at (251) 435-2286 with the provider's name and number.
Discuss your claim
Talk With a Disability Lawyer About Your Mobile Claim
Call (615) 255-4307 or start a free review online, and we respond within 3 business hours. Have your ZIP code, the field office named on your Social Security letters, any denial or hearing notice with the day it reached you, and a list of where you have been treated.