San diego, California
San Diego Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in San Diego, California, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. We help prepare applications, address denials, and represent clients at administrative hearings, working with you by phone and video. Begin with the date your condition affected your work, the places where you received treatment, and any Social Security decision you received. We can review that information and explain the next step.
How we help
Help With San Diego Applications, Reconsideration, and Hearings
For SSI, we help complete the application and its financial disclosures.
We serve San Diego adults from Tennessee and work with clients by phone and video. Our California disability representation page explains our service across the state.
Applications: We help prepare and file SSDI applications with the Social Security Administration (SSA), gather medical evidence, and document work history. For SSI, we help complete the application and its financial disclosures.
Reconsideration: We review the denial reasons and address missing or updated evidence so the appeal responds to the issues in the decision.
Administrative hearings: We develop the medical record, prepare you for questions about your condition and work, and present the legal argument at the hearing.
Service limits, including Veterans Affairs (VA) matters
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently 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. We refer federal court appeals to a trusted affiliate rather than handling them in-house.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for San Diego Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough work covered by Social Security, including sufficiently recent work. The work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began. For SSDI based on statutory blindness, SSA requires fully insured status but does not apply the ordinary recent-work test. SSI does not require an insured work record; it has separate income, resource, and other eligibility rules. SSI may be available based on age 65 or older, statutory blindness, or a qualifying disability. Read SSA’s SSDI eligibility explanation and SSI eligibility requirements.
For adult SSDI and SSI claims based on a condition other than statutory blindness, SSA evaluates whether a medically determinable physical or mental condition prevents substantial gainful activity, meaning significant physical or mental work usually done for pay or profit. The condition and resulting inability to perform that work must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death. SSA considers past work and adjustment to other work when the evaluation reaches those steps; a claim can be decided earlier. You do not have to wait 12 months to apply when the expected duration meets the rule. Special SSDI work and duration rules apply to statutory blindness.
SSI statutory blindness has different rules. SSA does not use substantial gainful activity to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, and SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. SSI’s financial and other eligibility rules still apply.
Local treatment records
Finding Alvarado Records for a San Diego Disability Claim
Forms requiring physician certification go to the provider’s office rather than Medical Records.
If you received care at Alvarado Hospital, treatment dates matter when requesting records. UC San Diego Health’s records instructions direct requests for care before December 11, 2023, to Prime Healthcare. UC San Diego Health handles releases for encounters on or after that date, including East Campus Medical Center care.
UC San Diego Health also publishes a separate request process for radiology images. Forms requiring physician certification go to the provider’s office rather than Medical Records. Identify the dates and type of information needed before submitting a request.
Get organized
A Treatment and Work Checklist for Your San Diego Claim
Use this checklist to identify what you have and what is missing. Organizing your own copies can help you discuss evidence gaps; it does not replace SSA’s requests or deadlines.
Treatment list: Record each doctor, clinic, hospital, and therapist, with contact details and treatment dates. Include providers outside San Diego and records already in your possession. Add medications, prescribers, and tests.
Alvarado dates: Separate treatment before December 11, 2023, from treatment on or after that date so requests reach the appropriate custodian.
Request tracker: For each missing item, note the provider, dates needed, record type, request date, and whether it was received. Identify missing notes or reports rather than assuming a downloaded file covers every visit.
Work changes: List jobs, dates, duties, hours, and earnings. Describe the tasks you stopped doing, reduced, or needed help completing when your condition affected your work.
Decisions and finances: Keep Social Security decisions with their envelopes and record when you received them. For SSI, organize income, resources, and living-arrangement information.
SSA’s application guidance says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Provide the information you have and respond to later requests.
After a denial
Responding to an SSDI or SSI Denial From San Diego
Deadline
60days
After an initial SSDI or SSI denial, reconsideration is generally the next review step. After an unfavorable reconsideration determination, you may request a hearing before an administrative law judge. Both requests must be made in writing and generally must be filed within 60 days after you receive the relevant notice. SSA’s rules for SSDI reconsideration, SSI reconsideration, SSDI hearing requests, and SSI hearing requests explain these requirements.
SSA generally presumes receipt five days after the date on the notice unless you show that you did not receive it within that period. Keep evidence of delayed delivery. Do not treat this as an unconditional 65-day deadline from the letter date.
If a reconsideration or hearing request is late, request an extension in writing and explain why you missed the deadline. SSA must find good cause; an extension is not automatic. Have the decision reviewed promptly so the appeal step and the reasons for denial can be considered together.
Hearing attendance
Preparing for a Social Security Hearing While Living in San Diego
SSA describes four ways to attend a hearing: in person, by audio using a telephone, by agency video using SSA equipment, or by online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. The Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing explains how to agree or object; objections to audio or agency video are subject to SSA’s rules and exceptions. Follow the response deadlines in that notice.
Our hearing-office guide provides office information. Use your own scheduling notice for the location and attendance instructions for your case. Phone or video meetings with our team are separate from your SSA hearing arrangement.
Common questions
Questions San Diego Adults Ask About Disability Claims
Can I request all Alvarado Hospital records from UC San Diego Health?
Not necessarily. UC San Diego Health directs requests for Alvarado care before December 11, 2023, to Prime Healthcare and handles releases for encounters on or after that date. Identify the treatment dates first.
Is California Disability Insurance the same as SSDI or SSI?
No. California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) administers Disability Insurance, which provides short-term wage replacement under a separate state program. SSDI and SSI are federal Social Security programs with different eligibility rules. Check which agency issued a decision and follow the instructions for that program. Our services here concern SSDI and SSI.
Do I need every medical record before applying?
No. SSA says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Provide the treatment information and records you have, identify missing items, and respond to later requests. A complete personal records file is not a prerequisite to starting an application.
Does Downard have a San Diego office?
No. We do not have a California office. We represent San Diego adults with SSDI and SSI matters and work with clients by phone and video. Meetings with our team do not determine how SSA schedules a hearing.
Discuss your claim
Talk With Downard About Your San Diego Disability Claim
Tell us whether you are preparing an application, responding to a denial, or waiting for an administrative hearing. We can review your situation and explain the next step. Contact Downard & Associates to discuss your SSDI or SSI matter.