Syracuse, New York
Syracuse SSDI and SSI Lawyers, From Application to Hearing
Claims from nine Social Security field offices are heard at one hearing office on South State Street in Syracuse: Binghamton, Corning, Elmira, Ithaca, Ogdensburg, Oswego, Syracuse, Utica and Watertown. Downard & Associates represents claimants in Syracuse, New York, and across that hearing area with 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
How We Work With Syracuse-Area Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
A claim heard in Syracuse may begin at a field office in Utica, Ithaca or Watertown, with treatment spread across more than one Syracuse hospital and sometimes the VA.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review, and our appeals representation page explains the steps after a denial. Our New York disability lawyer page covers the rest of the state, including its other hearing offices.
We have no Syracuse 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 Syracuse Hearing Office and Its Nine Field Offices
Social Security's hearing office locator lists the Syracuse hearing office on the 5th Floor, 300 S. State Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. It serves the Binghamton, Corning, Elmira, Ithaca, Ogdensburg, Oswego, Syracuse, Utica and Watertown field offices.
Nearby field offices are split among four hearing offices, and the split is easy to misread. Elmira and Corning come to Syracuse, while Olean and Jamestown go to Buffalo. Binghamton comes to Syracuse, while Oneonta goes to Albany. Geneva goes to Rochester. Social Security assigns the hearing office by where you live, so tell us your field office when you call, and check the place printed on your Notice of Hearing if you appear in person or by agency video. Our hearing office directory lists the offices for other states.
Hearing formats
Appearing From Watertown, Elmira or Syracuse
Deadline
30days
20 CFR 404.936
Social Security offers hearings by phone, online video, agency video or in person. Its ways to attend page describes each one: in person at one of its offices, by audio using a telephone in a private location you choose, by agency video on its equipment at one of its offices, or by online video on a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Before it schedules your hearing, Social Security sends a notice that it may schedule you by audio or agency video. Under 20 CFR 404.936, you have 30 days after you receive that notice to object in writing to either format, and the same 30 days to agree in writing to online video. You may withdraw an online video agreement any time before the hearing starts.
For a claimant whose field office is Ogdensburg or Corning, a phone or online video hearing means no travel on hearing day. Our guide to video and in-person hearings sets out the tradeoffs.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Syracuse Hospitals
Upstate records turnaround
10days
Upstate records FAQ
Each Syracuse hospital runs requests through its own office, and each describes a different route. Request by date range and keep a note of what you asked for and when.
Upstate University Hospital: Upstate's medical record request page has a downloadable form that goes by mail or fax to Release of Information, or you can bring it to Room 1500 on the first floor of University Hospital, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The page lists a separate mailing address for the Community Campus at 4900 Broad Road, so name the campus where you were treated. Upstate's records FAQ says patient requests are completed in 10 days.
St. Joseph's Health: its records page offers an online request form, or a downloaded form returned by fax or by mail to Health Information Management, 301 Prospect Ave, and notes that a fee may apply. The authorization form lists Disability as a purpose of release and has separate boxes for Radiology Images and Radiology Reports.
Crouse Hospital: Crouse's medical records page accepts its authorization form or a request on a plain sheet of paper with your name, date of birth, what you want copied and the address the copies should go to, signed and dated, although the same page also says a signed authorization form must be completed, so the form is the safer choice. A request goes by mail to Health Information Management at 736 Irving Ave., by fax, or in person, and the page says a request takes 10 business days.
Fort Drum and veterans
Fort Drum, Watertown and Expedited Veteran Claims
Social Security's veterans page says a veteran may need to self-identify as a veteran and provide the VA notification letter as proof.
New York State's Jefferson County page calls Fort Drum the largest Army installation in the Northeast, and the city of Watertown, in the same county, has one of the nine field offices on the Syracuse list. For veterans and service members in this hearing area, two rules on Social Security's military and veterans page matter.
First, a VA disability compensation rating of 100% Permanent and Total can qualify a claim for expedited processing, as can a disability that began during active military service on or after October 1, 2001. Social Security's veterans page says a veteran may need to self-identify as a veteran and provide the VA notification letter as proof. Expedited processing changes how quickly a claim is handled, not the standard: Social Security still applies the strict definition of disability that federal law requires. Second, SSDI and VA disability compensation do not affect each other, and each one requires its own application.
Treatment at the Syracuse VA Medical Center belongs in the record too. Its contact page says you can access your records online or request a copy from its Release of Information Office. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim fit together.
After a denial
Appeal Deadlines After a Syracuse-Area Denial
Deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
Each appeal step runs on 60 days. Reconsideration must be requested within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI. A hearing must be requested within 60 days after you receive the reconsideration notice, under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Under 20 CFR 404.901, Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date printed on it, unless you show that it did not arrive within those 5 days.
The count is the same in Ogdensburg as in Syracuse. Write the date each notice arrives on its envelope and keep the envelope with the letter, because that is the record you would use to show a notice came late.
Common questions
Syracuse Disability Claim Questions
Do Elmira and Corning disability claims go to Syracuse or Buffalo?
Syracuse. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns both the Elmira and Corning field offices to the Syracuse hearing office at 300 S. State Street, while the Olean and Jamestown field offices go to Buffalo.
Which hearing office handles a claim from the Oneonta field office?
Albany. The Oneonta field office is on the Albany hearing office's list, while the Binghamton field office goes to Syracuse.
Can a Fort Drum veteran with a 100% P&T rating get faster SSDI processing?
Yes, the claim can be expedited. Social Security's veterans page lists a 100% Permanent and Total VA compensation rating as qualifying for expedited processing, and in rare cases asks the veteran to provide the VA notification letter as proof.
Where does a records request for Upstate's Community Campus go?
To the Community Campus office. Upstate's request page lists HIM/Release of Information Services, Upstate Medical University at Community Campus, 4900 Broad Road, Room 1372, Syracuse, NY 13215, separate from the Room 1500 office at University Hospital on East Adams Street.
Does a St. Joseph's records request include X-ray images?
Images and reports are separate boxes on St. Joseph's Health's authorization form, labeled Radiology Images and Radiology Reports, so check both when imaging is part of your claim.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Syracuse-Area Claim With Us
Tell us which field office has your claim, what Social Security has decided so far and whether you have a VA rating. We will explain the next step by phone or video.