Get Legal Help With Your SSDI or SSI Claim
Downard & Associates represents adults with SSDI and SSI claims at every stage before Social Security: applications, reconsideration, hearings, and Appeals Council review. We work by phone and video from Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
This page explains what we handle, what we refer elsewhere, how the fee works, and how to reach us. Read it before you call, so the first conversation can go straight to your claim.
What happens when you contact a disability law firm about your claim
The first conversation is mostly listening. We ask where the claim stands, what the last letter from Social Security said, and when it arrived, because the deadline decides what has to happen first. Each claim gets read on its own facts. This is not an assembly line, and two people with the same condition can need very different work.
Most of the first call is about your claim, not about us. We tell you plainly where it stands, including the parts that are hard to hear. If the claim fits what we do and you want to go ahead, you sign a fee agreement and Social Security’s Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative form (SSA-1696), which lets us act for you on the claim.
What we do at each stage
- Application. The forms, the medical evidence, the work history, and for SSI, the financial disclosures.
- Reconsideration. Reading the denial, finding what the first review lacked, requesting those records, and filing on time.
- Hearing. Building the record, preparing you for the questions, and representing you before the administrative law judge.
- Appeals Council review. Reviewing the judge’s decision and asking the Appeals Council to look at it again.
Sources: SSA-1696, Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative; 20 CFR 404.900.
Disability claims we handle and claims we refer elsewhere
We represent adults 18 and over with SSDI and SSI claims, from the application through Appeals Council review. That includes SSDI claims for veterans.
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.
We also do not represent children. For a child’s SSI claim, a continuing disability review, or a question about back pay alone, start with Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. For a VA claim or appeal, start with the Department of Veterans Affairs at va.gov.
How disability lawyer fees and case costs work
Under the fee agreement process, the fee is 25 percent of past-due benefits or $9,200, whichever is less, and Social Security must approve it. Past-due benefits are the benefits that built up for earlier months while the claim was pending. The fee comes out of that back amount, the way a commission comes out of a sale, and never out of your monthly check going forward. If Social Security does not award past-due benefits, there is no fee.
We pay case costs up front while the claim is pending. If you win, those costs are repaid from the award.
Sources: 42 U.S.C. 406; SSA POMS GN 03920006; SSA fee agreement notice, Federal Register, May 6, 2025.
Can a disability lawyer in Tennessee represent you in another state?
Yes. Social Security disability is federal law, and federal rules allow attorneys to represent claimants before Social Security nationwide. We represent clients in every state from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, with consultations by phone and video. We do not have local offices outside Lebanon.
Hearings work the same way. Social Security decides whether a hearing happens by phone, by video, or in person, and the hearing notice says which. Federal court cases go to a trusted affiliate firm.
Sources: 42 U.S.C. 406; 20 CFR 404.1705; 20 CFR 404.936.
Send Downard & Associates a short inquiry
Six questions are enough to start. Please do not include a Social Security number, medical records, or bank details; we ask for what we need once we talk.
Questions people ask before hiring a disability lawyer
Is the first conversation with Downard & Associates free?
Yes. The first conversation about your claim costs nothing and does not commit you to anything. If we take the case and you agree, the fee is set by the fee agreement described on this page.
Will I have to travel for my disability hearing?
Not always. Social Security schedules hearings by phone, by video, or in person, and the notice you receive before the hearing tells you which. If you object to appearing by phone or by video, the rules give you 30 days after receiving Social Security’s notice to say so in writing.
What should I have ready before I call?
Your most recent letter from Social Security, a list of the doctors and clinics you see, and a rough work history are enough to start. The First-Call Checklist puts all of it on one page.
Sources: 20 CFR 404.936; 20 CFR 404.938.