New York Social Security Disability Lawyers

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If you are thinking about applying for Social Security disability in New York, then you should weigh the benefits of hiring an attorney. An experienced Social Security disability lawyer can significantly improve the odds that your case will be approved.

Social Security data from New York reveals that 40% of the Social Security disability claims are denied on average. Of course, most applicants that have been denied on their first attempt appeal the decision. However, the chances of approval are even worse in the first phase of the appeals process, which is formally known as reconsideration.

The vast majority of claimants will have to wait until their hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) to have a significant chance of approval.

New York has 10 Hearing Offices where you can go to have your case heard by an ALJ. They are listed in the above table.

Most successful Social Security disability claims are approved during the hearing, largely because the ALJs have more leeway in the way they handle claims and can actually see and hear you while you present evidence of your disability.

Overall, 40% of New York disability hearings result in an disability benefits being awarded.

On average, New York residents wait 623 days for their hearing before an ALJ. Some Hearing Offices are more favorable than others.

Disability Statistics for New York
Office Judges Avg. Hearing Wait Time Average Processing Time Avg. Dispositions Per Day Per ALJ Cases Dismissed Cases Approved Cases Denied
Syracuse 11 19 months 567 days 2.12 16% 46% 38%
Buffalo 12 22 months 660 days 1.44 16% 37% 47%
Jamaica 9 19 months 615 days 1.82 10% 38% 52%
Bronx 8 18 months 591 days 2.20 20% 25% 55%
Albany 12 17 months 587 days 2.02 26% 30% 44%
New York 8 21 months 642 days 1.25 31% 42% 27%
Central Islip 8 22 months 629 days 1.72 27% 53% 20%
New York 14 22 months 711 days 1.52 18% 33% 49%
White Plains 11 18 months 585 days 1.60 13% 43% 44%
Rochester 4 23 months 639 days 1.58 19% 56% 25%
All New York 0 20 months 62 days 1.73 20% 40% 40%
All Administrative Law Judges in New York
Judge City of Operation Full Favorable Part Favorable Total ALJ Dispositions Total Awards Total Decisions Total Denials Total Dispositions
Michelle I Allen Jamaica 23 10 61 33 45 12 61
Asad M. Ba-Yunus Albany 30 9 142 39 119 80 142
Bryce Baird Buffalo 34 5 82 39 60 21 82
John J Barry White Plains 26 3 54 29 36 7 54
Stephan Bell Buffalo 48 9 105 57 83 26 105
Alan B Berkowitz Central Islip 48 7 117 55 77 22 117
Dale Black-Pennington Albany 47 3 106 50 91 41 106
Vincent M Cascio White Plains 48 7 128 55 98 43 128
Jay L Cohen Jamaica 45 6 109 51 82 31 109
Stephen Cordovani Buffalo 25 8 118 33 86 53 118
John P Costello Rochester 47 2 109 49 77 28 109
Brian J Crawley Central Islip 68 6 105 74 82 8 105
Michael W Devlin Rochester 37 8 94 45 54 9 94
Sandra R DiMaggio Wallis White Plains 12 0 99 12 19 7 37
Margaret A Donaghy Jamaica 41 3 79 44 64 20 79
Robert C Dorf New York 69 8 117 77 98 21 117
Katherine Edgell White Plains 19 18 98 37 79 42 98
Jeremy G Eldred Syracuse 49 3 123 52 95 43 123
Joseph R Faraguna Central Islip 67 3 120 70 86 16 120
John G Farrell Albany 58 9 121 67 104 37 121
Bruce S Fein Syracuse 45 11 135 56 98 42 135
Elias Feuer Bronx 21 5 83 26 64 38 83
Michael Friedman New York 7 4 129 11 19 8 25
Michael Friedman Jamaica 42 12 129 54 78 24 104
Paul Georger Buffalo 40 8 113 48 88 40 113
Lynette Gohr Buffalo 11 8 72 19 61 42 72
Robert Gonzalez White Plains 39 6 78 45 65 20 78
Thomas C Gray New York 69 13 130 82 101 19 130
Gretchen M Greisler Syracuse 27 11 117 38 79 41 117
Seth I Grossman New York 30 7 145 37 101 64 145
Edward H Hein New York 36 5 103 41 61 20 103
Maria Herrero-Jaarsma Buffalo 24 10 89 34 78 44 89
Robyn L Hoffman Syracuse 32 4 124 36 83 47 124
Ifeoma N Iwuamadi Jamaica 38 23 122 61 94 33 122
Melissa L Jones Buffalo 34 4 91 38 64 26 91
Brian Kane Rochester 41 8 102 49 70 21 102
Brian G Kanner Bronx 60 6 151 66 124 58 151
Dennis G Katz White Plains 50 5 112 55 89 34 112
James Kearns Buffalo 0 0 54 0 1 1 3
James Kearns New York 8 0 54 8 13 5 22
James Kearns New York 16 0 54 16 21 5 29
Paul F Kelly Albany 92 8 142 100 119 19 142
Patrick Kilgannon Central Islip 31 4 75 35 53 18 75
Elizabeth W Koennecke Syracuse 23 5 85 28 56 28 85
Brian LeCours Albany 62 11 162 73 147 74 162
Brian W Lemoine White Plains 58 4 102 62 80 18 102
Alexander G Levine Bronx 69 9 177 78 131 53 177
John M Lischak Syracuse 60 5 102 65 71 6 102
Michelle S Marcus Albany 19 2 35 21 29 8 35
Mary Mattimore Buffalo 24 19 119 43 88 45 119
Kieran McCormack White Plains 35 19 129 54 111 57 129
Janet McEneaney New York 23 2 59 25 44 19 59
Timothy M McGuan Buffalo 34 8 103 42 81 39 103
Sandra M McKenna Jamaica 79 4 131 83 105 22 131
Lau Michalec Olszewski New York 1 0 84 1 1 0 1
Lau Michalec Olszewski White Plains 28 3 84 31 61 30 83
Jason A Miller New York 41 9 122 50 82 32 122
Jude B Mulvey Syracuse 39 17 146 56 109 53 146
Lynn Neugebauer Bronx 61 18 130 79 109 30 130
David F Neumann Albany 81 13 170 94 146 52 170
Connor O'Brien Rochester 38 1 68 39 46 7 68
Arthur Patane Albany 62 7 128 69 107 38 128
Margaret L Pecoraro Jamaica 72 5 110 77 84 7 110
Gloria Pellegrino Jamaica 27 6 136 33 108 75 136
Moises Penalver New York 35 7 72 42 50 8 72
Marissa A Pizzuto New York 64 2 116 66 83 17 116
John P Ramos Syracuse 40 8 110 48 81 33 110
Sommattie Ramrup New York 24 1 66 25 45 20 66
M. Reeves New York 14 9 82 23 50 27 82
Gitel Reich New York 55 7 119 62 80 18 119
David Romeo Syracuse 52 13 159 65 115 50 159
Lori Romeo New York 36 14 115 50 78 28 115
Kimberly L Schiro Bronx 60 6 132 66 107 41 132
Robert R Schriver Jamaica 45 15 116 60 91 31 116
Joani Sedaca New York 49 9 125 58 83 25 125
Miriam L Shire Bronx 33 3 116 36 79 43 116
Sharda Singh White Plains 40 9 109 49 100 51 109
Jennifer G Smith Syracuse 36 10 125 46 89 43 125
Mark Solomon New York 28 11 121 39 89 50 121
Jr., Andrew J. Soltes Albany 28 22 129 50 112 62 129
Mary Sparks Albany 19 0 52 19 37 18 52
Michael J Stacchini White Plains 41 5 108 46 84 38 108
Linda A Stagno New York 4 3 14 7 10 3 14
Carl E Stephan Albany 44 3 105 47 84 37 105
Flor M Suarez New York 40 6 112 46 75 29 112
Kenneth Theurer Syracuse 41 6 149 47 114 67 149
David Tobias Central Islip 75 11 143 86 111 25 143
Lucian A Vecchio New York 75 1 136 76 99 23 136
Ronald L Waldman Central Islip 66 7 117 73 82 9 117
Selwyn S Walters Bronx 54 5 140 59 97 38 140
Melissa Warner New York 16 0 101 16 17 1 17
William M Weir Buffalo 34 9 111 43 83 40 111
Andrew S Weiss Central Islip 50 7 131 57 99 42 131
Zachary S Weiss Bronx 55 9 108 64 79 15 108
April M Wexler Central Islip 2 1 121 3 4 1 5
Robert Wright Albany 72 5 141 77 120 43 141
Marilyn D Zahm Buffalo 6 0 17 6 11 5 17
View Social Security Offices in New York