New York Social Security Disability Lawyers
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.
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% |
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 |